IONICS Surface Technologies

As corrosion management becomes critical across aerospace, automotive, energy, and manufacturing sectors, surface engineering is a key strategy to extend component lifetime while reducing costs. Among advanced approaches, ion implantation offers a controlled method to modify near-surface properties without altering bulk performance. By bombarding surfaces with ions such as nitrogen or helium, it induces grain refinement, densification, and compressive stresses, improving hardness, wear resistance, and corrosion behaviour.

A major limitation has been the size, cost, and energy demand of conventional systems. IONICS addresses this with an ionGUN™, a compact, energy-efficient implantation system for industrial surface modification using gaseous species. It enables high-precision treatment with a reduced footprint and up to 90% lower energy consumption, expanding faccess in corrosion-sensitive industries. Results from nitrogen implantation show strong potential. In gold-plated electrical connectors, it allows up to four times thinner gold layers while maintaining corrosion protection. Treated components also show 30% higher wear resistance and increased hardness. lon implantation can also act synergistically with technologies such as PVD, Electroplating, to improve interfacial stability and corrosion performance. Together, these strategies offer a scalable route to advanced corrosion management compatible with highthroughput manufacturing.