Investigations aimed at the development of a laser induced chemical va
por deposition process for use in structured deposition of titanium ni
tride coatings on tool steel were performed. Experiments were carried
out using a focused argon ion laser beam, where lateral film growth is
realized by laser scanning. In particular. the deposition of titanium
nitride from TiCl4/N-2/H-2-precursor gas mixtures at atmospheric pres
sure was investigated. The deposited TiN films are adherent, hard, rou
gh and porous, The double layer capacitance of those films is approxim
ately one order of magnitude higher than that of smooth and dense TiN
films. In order to estimate the laser induced temperatures in the film
-substrate-system, lateral and temporal temperature fields were calcul
ated.