Results from 2 years of operation of a plasma implantation facility

In 1995, North Star Research Corporation and Empire Hard Chrome developed a plan to use ‘Pre-owned’ equipment from North Star to develop a user facility at Empire which would ease the transition from wet chrome plating to plasma implantation. Over the last 2 years, more than 6000 parts, and 400 batches of parts have been treated. The equipment has operated for more than 2000 h without failure after initial shake-down. Practical issues in facility operation will be discussed, including cooling, scheduling, and marketing.