Microstructure of TiN coatings synthesized by direct pulsed Nd:YAG laser nitriding of titanium: Development of grain size, microstrain, and grain orientation

Pure titanium was irradiated by pulsed Nd:YAG laser irradiation in nitrogen atmosphere. As a result, nitrogen uptake and diffusion occurred and a TiN layer was synthesized at the titanium surface. These TiN coatings were analyzed by X-ray diffraction and the diffraction patterns were investigated in detail, in order to obtain more information about the physical processes during the coating formation. The diffraction peaks were fitted by Pearson VII profiles and the grain size and the microstrain were determined by the analysis of line broadening and peak shifts, using the Williamson–Hall and the Warren–Averbach formalisms. Additional single-line analyses were performed by means of the method of Langford and Keijser to obtain information about the preferred grain orientation and the texture development. The maximum grain size was about 100 nm and a corresponding average lattice strain of 0.002 was found. A relation between the treatment parameters and the coating properties, such as grain size and microstrain, can be shown. Thus, it was possible to determine optimal scan parameters for material processing and to establish the physical limits of the coating properties.