Laser-Assisted Deposition of Transition Metal Coatings on Graphite

This paper reports the deposition of transition metal coatings on graphite by laser melting a pre-placed layer of powder particles using a continuous wave (CW) laser. Titanium, zirconium, and niobium coatings were successfully deposited on semiconductor grade graphite plates using the laser induced surface improvement (LISI) approach. The coatings produced were characterized using scanning electron microscope, energy dispersive spectrometry, X-ray diffraction, microhardness testing, and secondary ion mass spectrometry. Results show the formation of crack-free and dense transition metal coatings and the presence of carbide phases at the coating-graphite interface.