Plasma-assisted carburizing

摘要

A system and method of carburizing a surface region of an object includes subjecting a gas to electromagnetic radiation, generated from a radiation source ( 52 ), in the presence of a plasma catalyst ( 70 ) to initiate a plasma containing carbon. The method also includes exposing the surface region of the object to the plasma for a period of time sufficient to transfer at least some of the carbon from the plasma to the object through the first surface region.