Studies of nitrogen implantation in an iron alloy using photoemission electron spectroscopy, sputtered neutral mass spectrometry, and elastic recoil detection analysis, reveal an enhancement of nitrogen diffusion when deuterium replaces hydrogen in the gas. Compared to hydrogen, deuterium reduces NOx species on the surface (geometric barrier), increasing the nitrogen activity at the surface and consequently nitrogen diffusion into the solid solution. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.1011
