Factors affecting the ELNES of the boron K-edge in titanium diboride in a multilayer coating

A PVD multilayer coating of TiB₂ / Al has been studied with particular emphasis on the TiB₂ layers. PEELS studies highlighted differences in the ELNES of the B K-edge in each TiB₂ layer and reasons for these differences are addressed. The effect of ion beam thinning, impurity incorporation and orientation effects are all considered. It is suggested that orientation variation is the prime factor in creating the differences in the ELNES due to the anisotropic nature of the bonding in TiB₂.