Treatment of tantalum using argon glow discharge plasma for applied purposes

The main purpose of this work is to use a low-cost DC plasma discharge to enhance the material properties. The source of the DC glow discharge plasma was the Batorm device. By using a low-pressure argon gas, the best operating conditions of the plasma were obtained at a pressure 3 x 10(-2) mbar and a breakdown voltage of 160 V. Electrical parameters of the plasma have been experimentally estimated at two different pressures 3 x 10(-2) and 4 x 10(-2) mbar. Tantalum material has been chosen to be treated along this work due to its great importance in industry. In addition, it is used as a cathode for the ion source inside the Egyptian cyclotron at the Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority (EAEA). A U-shaped tantalum sample, exactly like the cyclotron filament, was exposed to plasma created from 3 x 10(-2) mbar and 250 V for 30 min. At these low conditions, the obtained results were promising where the surface treatment of the sample caused cleaning and increased its hardness.

Automated summary

The main purpose of this study is to enhance the material properties using a low-cost DC plasma discharge. The best operating conditions of the plasma were obtained by using low-pressure argon gas. Tantalum material was chosen for treatment, and the results showed that the surface treatment of the sample caused cleaning and increased hardness under these low conditions.