Microstructure of TiC precipitates in Ti-implanted α-Fe

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Abstract
We demonstrate that Ti implanted into α‐Fe (with ∼60 appm C impurity) getters C (along with a lesser amount of N) upon postimplantation annealing and precipitates as TiC. The microstructure of the TiC precipitates is examined with TEM for annealing temperatures up to 860 °C. The precipitate size evolution is discussed in terms of growth, ripening, and dissolution processes. The precipitate size increases with anneal temperature for 1 h anneals. At 700 °C no change in precipitate size is observed for anneal times up to 16 h. At 800 °C, an increase in size is observed for increasing anneal times between 1–64 h, while at 860 °C this increase is thought to occur prior to 1 h and the precipitates are observed to decrease with increasing anneal times between 1 and 4 h. At 800–860 °C, the precipitates have a disk‐like shape, and their orientation in the α‐Fe matrix can be used to identify two types of interfacial area with different degrees of coherency. The implications of the observed microstructure for studies of trapping of embrittling impurities in α‐Fe and for modifying the surface mechanical properties are discussed.

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