It has been established that the wear behavior of ceramic materials can be modified through ion implantation. Studies have been done to characterize the effect of implantation on the structure and composition of ceramic surfaces. To understand how these changes affect the wear properties of the ceramic, other mechanical properties must be measured. To accomplish this, a commercially available ultra low load hardness tester has been used to characterize Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/ with different implanted species and doses. The hardness of the base material is compared with the highly damaged crystalline state as well as the amorphous material
