A surface is distinct from bulk matter in that it constitutes the physical interface with the environment. Whether or not a metal will corrode in salt water, for example, or how much resistance to wear is inherent in the design of a bearing are concerns that relate primarily to the physical condition of surfaces. The latter, in turn, may be selectively modified by the application of coatings or by the action of radiation, or by both. Three of the most common examples of surface modification by radiation—ultraviolet curing, ion implantation, and sputtering—are considered here.

Ultraviolet curing is a process in which polymers, generally employed as coatings, are irradiated by ultraviolet light. Such action produces electronic excitation and ionization of the long chain molecules that make up the polymer, either directly or through the mediation of imbedded, light-sensitive “activators.” This results in intermolecular bonding, a process called cross-linking. The entire polymeric coating, typically on the order of tenths of millimetres thick (depending on the application), becomes so highly cross-linked as to take on the character of a single giant molecule. The major effects of ultraviolet irradiation of polymers include reduction of friction, increased resistance to wear, increased hardness, and increased resistance to attack by acids and other corrosive agents. Ultraviolet curing is employed for diverse purposes ranging from the formation of “no-wax” coatings on floor tiles to application in the photolithographic process integral to the fabrication of solid-state electronic devices.

Ion implantation involves the irradiation of solids by beams of energetic ions emanating from particle accelerators. Typical energies employed are on the order of 100 keV (100,000 electron volts). Typical depths of penetration are on the order of several thousand angstroms, depending on energy, ion type, and target material. In ion implantation, virtually any atomic species can be embedded to predetermined depths and with predetermined concentration profiles in any target material so as to modify the surface characteristics without affecting desirable bulk properties. A typical example is the implantation of titanium in iron alloys to reduce wear of bearings and gears. A particularly promising technique was developed by physicists Michael W. Ferralli and Luntz, in which vacuum deposition of polymeric coatings on metallic substrates and simultaneous ion-beam irradiation act to produce implanted hydrocarbon films. The latter can be made to vary in carbon-to-hydrogen ratio from very high values—with the implanted region having some characteristics of diamond—to values on the order of unity and corresponding polymeric characteristics. This is accomplished by a process called preferential sputtering (see below). The films so produced are highly resistant to corrosion and appear to possess important bio-compatibility properties, making them suitable for applications in, for example, the treatment of the surfaces of surgical implants such as artificial hip joints. Such effects of ion implantation result in part from structural changes induced by radiation damage (e.g., implantation of boron or phosphorus in steel can render the surface amorphous so as to eliminate grain boundaries and other corrosion-sensitive sites), and in part from chemical changes arising from bonding of the implanted species with constituents of the substrate.

Sputtering is a process in which atoms, ions, and molecular species in the surface of a target material are ejected under the action of ion-beam irradiation. Energies typical of ion implantation are employed and, while any ion type may be used, noble (or rare) gases such as argon and neon are most common. The latter avoid unwanted chemical interactions between the ions of the beam and the substrate. Sputtering results from several interaction mechanisms. Conceptually, the simplest is rebound sputtering, in which an incident ion strikes an atom on the surface, causing it to recoil into the target. The recoiling atom promptly collides with a neighbouring atom in the target, rebounds elastically, and is ejected from the surface. A similar but somewhat more complex mechanism is recoil sputtering, in which a struck, recoiling surface atom undergoes a random sequence of elastic scatterings in the target material, ultimately migrating back to, and through, the surface. Yet another mechanism is prompt thermal sputtering, in which energized atoms in thermal spikes created close to the surface escape through the surface before annealing occurs. Certain materials (e.g., crystalline alkali halides) are prone to electronic sputtering, in which energy associated with electronic excitations induced by the incident ion is transformed into atomic recoil kinetic energy, often sufficient to cause the ejection of ions through the surface. By means of any of these various mechanisms, several atoms may be sputtered for each ion incident on the target. The number of atoms sputtered per incident ion is called the sputtering yield.

Surface modifications caused by sputtering are characterized as structural (e.g., phase conversion from crystalline to amorphous and vice versa), topographical (e.g., alteration of the shape of surface protrusions such as grain boundaries, development of facets, and the removal of surface contaminants), electronic (e.g., radiation-induced chemical changes), and compositional (e.g., preferential sputtering of a particular atomic species resulting in changes in the composition of alloys).