Laser chemical vapor deposition of Ti from TiBr4

Titanium metal has been deposited on a stainless-steel substrate by decomposing TiBr4 with a 1.4-kW cw TEM00 CO2 laser. Both the film thickness and deposition rate of the films have been studied as a function of partial vapor pressure of TiBr4, irradiation time, and chamber temperature. The observed deposition rate (190 μm/h) was two orders of magnitude greater than the deposition rate calculated for the production of pure titanium films using chemical vapor deposition. In addition, the films have been analyzed by Auger electron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and stylus profilometry, and these results show that the coatings are relatively pure (90%) and uniform.