Dry sliding friction measurements made on titanium layers evaporated on AISI 304 stainless steel in the as-deposited and excimer laser mixed form show a dependence on the film thickness and the amount of mixing. The effect of laser mixing is dependent on the incident fluence with high fluences and/or large numbers of pulses producing surfaces with poor frictional properties. The optimum total fluence depends on the thickness of the surface layer, a result consistent with thorough mixing of the alloyed layer without the surface damage that results from large numbers of pulses.
Microstructural changes due to laser surface melting of an AISI 304 stainless steel