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Article: Ion nitriding basics.
- Article from:
- Advanced Materials & Processes
- Article date:
- March 1, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 ASM International. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Gas ionization is a method of causing gaseous atoms to lose electrons and become positively charged ions. In the ion nitriding process, nitrogen ions combine with iron atoms on the surface of a steel part to form iron nitride, FeN. At a particular pressure and electrical potential, the gas will glow--not unlike the gas in neon light tubes.
The phenomenon of gas ionization was first investigated in the 1800s, when studies made in the upper reaches of the Arctic Circle in Norway showed the aurora borealis to be low-pressure ionized air that exhibits a characteristic spectrum of the rarer gases present in the upper atmosphere.
Observable in an indefinite ...