It was recalled that, when the polycrystalline metal (sputtered onto a suitable substrate), was bombarded with low fluences of N ions, a new phase was produced which was supposed to be a solid solution of amorphous Cu in a crystalline matrix. The idea, that implantation produced a new form of center, made it possible to describe Cu dissolution, H evolution, and changes in surface hardness. The activation energy which was required for these processes was a function of the amount of new (passive) Cu, and did not depend upon the amount of active Cu. It was concluded that active Cu was an energetically homogeneous sub-lattice, and that the incorporated passive Cu was characterized by an energy distribution of particles with activity coefficients of 4.98 (kinetics of Cu dissolution) and 2.92 (kinetics of H evolution).

J.M.Tyurin, G.F.Volodin, O.I.Akimov, A.I.Frolov: Elektrokhimiya, 1994, 30[5], 644-8 (Russian Journal of Electrochemistry, 1994, 30[5], 581-5)