Ion Nitriding: Ion nitriding is a surface treatment method of diffusing nitrogen in the surface of the steel to enable the nitrogen to react with alloying elements that will readily form stable nitrides.

This will result in a hard surface layer in the immediate surface of the steel. The appropriate gases are ionized electrically in a specially-designed, low-pressure vacuum process chamber. The process is also known as plasma nitriding, glow discharge nitriding and ion nitriding.

Ion Carburizing: This surface treatment process generates carbon for diffusion into the steel surface. Once the carbon has been diffused to the appropriate depth, the treated steel is austenitized according to the surface carbon content and cooled at the appropriate rate to transform the induced carbon/austenite

into martensite. In effect, the process is very much like gas carburizing with much the same results. It is a surface treatment. The process is accomplished under similar electrically generated conditions as with ion nitriding—with the exception of the higher process temperature.

Intensive Quenching
This is a patented process using water as the primary quench medium to transform the created austenite into martensite. The process is reported to be successful with highly alloyed tool steels, including high-speed steels, the D series and the H series.