The effect of nitriding temperature on the formation of surface layers of vanadium-titanium alloy Ti–6Al–4V

In this work, using the methods of atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), the features of the formation of surface morphology, chemical and phase composition of near-surface and surface layers during ion-plasma processing of the Ti–6Al–4V (VT6) alloy in a glow discharge plasma of N+ ions were studied. depending on the temperature of the samples. It has been shown that increasing the sample temperature from 300 to 700°С during processing leads to an increase in the surface roughness parameters Ra and Rz, due to the formation of titanium nitrides Ti2N and TiN on the surface of the alloy. Based on the conducted research, it is assumed that the formation of thin near-surface layers (~20 nm) during treatment in nitrogen plasma without heating and with heating to 300°С is determined by the oxidation processes of alloy components, and when processing with heating to 500 and 700°С by nitrogen diffusion processes.