Stress enhanced diffusion of krypton ions in polycrystalline titanium

An experimental investigation on the mutual influence of pre-existing residual stress and point defect following ion implantation is presented. The study has been carried out using polycrystalline titanium samples energetically implanted with krypton ions at different fluences. Ion beam analysis was used to determine the concentration profile of the injected krypton ions, while synchrotron X-ray diffraction has been used for stress determination. Ion beam analysis and synchrotron X-ray diffraction stress profile measurements of the implanted titanium samples show a clear evidence of stress-enhanced diffusion of krypton ions in titanium. It is further observed that for the titanium samples implanted at low fluence, ion implantation modifies the pre-existing residual stress through the introduction of point and open volume defects. The stress fields resulting from the ion implantation act to drift the krypton inclusions towards the surface of titanium.