Formation of protective coatings on metals by intense pulsed ion beam

The results of the development of a combined method for protective coating deposition by plasma-generated ablation under the action of an intense pulsed ion beam (IPIB) on the surface of ablated materials are reported. This method deals with: cleaning of a substrate surface and thin Ti film deposition by the IPIB; radiation-induced mass transfer of elements of both the film and substrate to increase adhesion; deposition of thin Ti and C films by IPIB; and mixing of elements of this heterogeneous binary system by IPIB to create TiC coatings. The Ti film was deposited onto both Al and Fe, and then mixing was performed by IPIB using current density of 35 A/cm2 with various numbers of pulses. The substrate temperature was 20–300 °C. Analysis of the elemental composition of the coating–substrate system was performed by the Rutherford backscattering method. After deposition of the main TiC coating at a substrate temperature of 300 °C, analysis of the elemental composition of the coating–substrate interface was performed using the Auger electron spectroscopy method. The microhardness was measured using the Vickers method.