MEPCC 173/MECC 113/SECTION ________________

Problem Set #3 – Diffusion in Solids

NAME ________________________________ DATE _____________________________

Instruction:
a. Print this quiz (this will be your front/cover page).
b. Solve the following with detailed solution in a separate short (8.5” x 11”) bond paper. Box your final answer
c. Please write neatly and strictly NO ERASURE. Do not photocopy other’s work, otherwise, you will get a grade of
5.0 for this quiz.
d. Submit this on or before March 16, 2019 (Saturday)

******************************************************************************************
1. A sheet of BCC iron 1 mm thick was exposed to a carburizing gas atmosphere on one side and a decarburizing
atmosphere on the other side at 725oC. After having reached a steady state, the iron was quickly cooled to the room
temperature. The carbon concentration at the two surfaces of the sheet were determined to be 0.012 wt% and 0.0075
wt%. Compute the diffusion coefficient if the diffusion flux is 1.4 x 10-8 kg/m2-s.
2. Consider the impurity of gallium into a Si wafer. If gallium is diffused into a Si wafer with no previous gallium in
it at a temperature of 1100°C for 3 hours, what is the depth below the surface at which the concentration is 1 x 1022
atoms/m3 if the surface concentration is 1 x 1024 atoms/m3. For gallium diffusing into Si, D = 7.0 x 10 –17 m2/s.
3. The wear resistance of a steel shaft is to be improved by hardening its surface. This is to be accomplished by
increasing the nitrogen content within an outer surface layer as a result of nitrogen diffusion into the steel. The
nitrogen is to be supplied from an external nitrogen-rich gas at an elevated and constant temperature. The initial
nitrogen content of the steel is 0.002 wt%, whereas the surface concentration is to be maintained at 0.50 wt%. In
order for this treatment to be effective, a nitrogen content of 0.10 wt% must be established at a position 0.40 mm
below the surface. Specify appropriate treatments in terms of temperature and time for temperature between 475oC
and 625oC. The preexponential and activation energy for the diffusion of nitrogen are 3 x 10-7 m2/s and 76,150
Jol/mol, respectively, over this temperature.