Nitrogen and aluminum concentration profiles in the near surface region of
the Ti6Al4V-ELI alloy plasma nitrided under controlled processing condition
s are studied by nuclear reactions analysis (NRA), The results are compleme
nted by compound identification using grazing angle X-ray diffraction (GXRD
) and visual inspection of the microstructure by backscattered electron (BS
E) scanning microscopy. The layered structure of titanium nitrides near the
surface of the alloy is described as a function of the nitriding temperatu
re and the adequacy of the NRA technique is discussed. (C) 2001 Elsevier Sc
ience B.V. All rights reserved.