Laser alloying was carried out on the surface of pure titanium substrate with TiN-B-Si-Ni mixed powders. The result of Xray diffraction (XRD) analysis shows that the alloyed layer consists of many kinds of intermetallic compounds. The test results show that the alloyed layers have high microhardness (1500-1600 HV0.1), low friction coefficient (about 0.4), and are more resistant to oxidation than untreated substrate. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.