Characterization of yttrium implantation effect on pure iron

Pure electrolytic iron samples were yttrium implanted using ion implantatio n method. Composition and structure studies were carried out before and aft er yttrium implantations by several analytical and structural techniques su ch as Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS), secondary ion mass spec trometry (SIMS), reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED), elect ron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) t o characterize the yttrium implantation effect on the samples. The aim of t his paper is to show the contribution of Rutherford backscattering spectrom etry to the determination of yttrium depth profiles in pure electrolytic ir on. The results obtained by RES will be compared to those of the other anal yses performed in this work to show the existing correlation between compos ition and structural studies. Our results allow a better understanding of t he effect of yttrium implantation in pure iron before studying the specimen corrosion resistance at high temperature. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. A ll rights reserved.