The phase and morphological inhomogeneity of the Ti-C system deposits formed at the plasma-titanium substrate interface

We have studied the mechanism of structure formation and the local chemical composition of the Ti-C system deposits formed at the interface between a carbon-argon-titanium plasma and a titanium substrate under conditions of the titanium content in the plasma decreasing with time. The deposits were studied in a scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with an energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) analyzer. The spatially distributed growth of various structural modifications of carbon in the deposit is related to the mass transfer redistribution at the substrate surface and to the selective deposition of adatoms forming sufficiently stable chemical bonds to the growth surface in the thermal accommodation stage.