Preparation of tungsten carbide nanoparticles by ion implantation and electrochemical etching

Kato, Sho; Yamaki, Tetsuya; Yamamoto, Shunya; Hakoda, Teruyuki; Kawaguchi, Kazuhiro; Kobayashi, Tomohiro*; Suzuki, Akihiro*; Terai, Takayuki*

We implanted 100 keV W in unpolished GC substrates at nominal fluences up to ions/cm. The implanted samples were electrochemically anodized in a NaOH aqueous solution to etch the surface layer. The analyses were performed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). XPS W 4f spectra indicated the formation of carbides as reported previously. The electrochemical etching clearly increased the W concentration on the surface. According to the RBS results, half of the implanted W atoms were retained in the substrate, while the rest should escape to the etching solution. The cross-sectional TEM image revealed a uniform distribution of WC particles with a diameter of less than 10 nm just near the surface region.