Cr ion implantation into Ti: Part I. Formation of intermetallic Laves phase

High fluence implantations of chromium ions were used to promote the formation of Ti–Cr compounds in the surface region of pure titanium. The implanted samples were characterized by Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy (RBS), Particle Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE), and Grazing Incidence X-ray Diffraction (GIXRD), revealing different types of Ti–Cr alloys, which include the intermetallic Laves phase TiCr2. Implantation temperature is presented as a key factor necessary to achieve different Ti–Cr surface compounds directly by ion implantation without the need of further treatments. It is also shown that temporal coincidence between ion implantation and heat delivery is essential to intermetallic phase formation since ion implantations performed at room temperature and followed by thermal annealing treatments do not lead to similar results.