Electron beam nitriding of titanium in medium vacuum

We describe a novel method for electron-beam nitriding of metal (titanium) under medium (fore-vacuum) pressures (2–8 Pa) of nitrogen. Titanium sample was heated by a dc electron beam generated by a fore-vacuum plasma-cathode electron source with current up to 100 mA and energy up to 8 kV; this beam also generated beam-produced plasma with active nitrogen atoms, ions and other reactive species near the sample. SEM chemical composition analysis of the nitride layer have shown the presence of approximately 25 wt% of N, wt. 68% of Ti and only wt. 6% of O atoms within the processed layer. The X-ray diffraction spectrum of the nitride sample showed that the modified layer has a crystalline structure predominantly orientated along the crystallographic directions (111), (200), (220), characteristic of δ-TiN with a face-centered lattice. Besides the δ-TiN phase, there are present in the nitrided layer a γ phase of Ti2N (tetragonal nitride) with predominant orientation (200). These results show the advantage of using forevacuum sources for electron beam and plasma nitriding of metals. •We show a novel method for electron-beam nitriding of sample in fore-vacuum pressures.•Nitriding occurs due to direct irradiation of sample by e-beam and beam plasma.•Dense beam plasma provides charge neutralization, so any material can be nitrided.•Analysis shows 25 wt% of N, 68 wt% of Ti and only 6 wt% of O in treated layer Ti sample.