ION IMPLANTATION MODIFICATION OF ARCHWIRES
First Claim
1. A method of ion implanting a wire target comprising:
- providing the wire target in an ion implant system;
implanting ions into the wire target such that a color of the wire target material after the implanting exhibits a changed appearance from the color of the wire target material before the implanting; and
removing the wire target from the ion implant system.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Techniques and methods for utilizing ion implantation to modify dental archwires are provided. An example of a method of ion implanting a wire target includes providing the wire target in an ion implant system, implanting ions into the wire target such that a color of the wire target material after the implanting exhibits a changed appearance from the color of the wire target material before the implanting, and removing the wire target from the ion implant system. An example of a copper-aluminum-nickel (CuAlNi) wire includes an ion implanted atomic species wherein a color of an implanted CuAlNi wire is white, off-white and/or silver and further wherein the implanted CuAlNi wire exhibits mechanical properties of an unimplanted CuAlNi wire.
16 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A method of ion implanting a wire target comprising:
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providing the wire target in an ion implant system; implanting ions into the wire target such that a color of the wire target material after the implanting exhibits a changed appearance from the color of the wire target material before the implanting; and removing the wire target from the ion implant system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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- 9. A copper-aluminum-nickel (CuAlNi) wire comprising an ion implanted atomic species wherein a color of an implanted CuAlNi wire is white, off-white and/or silver and further wherein the implanted CuAlNi wire exhibits mechanical properties of an unimplanted CuAlNi wire.
- 14. A method of using an ion implanted archwire comprising installing the ion implanted archwire into orthodontic brackets.
Specification