AbstractModification of the chemomechanical behaviour of the surface of sapphire by ion implantation to improve its near-surface mechanical properties has been investigated. 300 keV Ti+ ions at various doses were implanted and the concentration and damage profiles characterised using Rutherford Backscattering (RBS). At high doses (≥ 3 × 1016 Ti+ cm−2), a surface amorphous layer is formed due to implantation-induced damage. Nanoindentation was used to determine the hardness behaviour of the

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... mplanted layer. Hardness increases at low implantation doses, associated with implantation-induced damage, but it is also observed that chemomechanical softening of the surface is reduced due to the removal of adsorbed water. In situ Raman scattering measurements demonstrate this removal at low doses and the re-establishment of the adsorbed water layer at high doses. The adsorption process is changed due to the introduction of carbon into the sapphire surface during implantation. For the optimum-implanted dose, the water readsorption does not recur even several years after the implantation treatment was first carried out. The loss of water adsorption is related to the formation of a non-polar carbonaceous layer on the sapphire surface by cracking of back-streamed diffusion pump oil deposited on the sample surface by inelastic collisions with the ion beam. Based on this study, it is concluded that ion implantation with an appropriate ion species and dose can control the chemomechanical effect and improve the hardness of ceramics, such as sapphire.