Patent ID: 7785428

Claim:
A method of forming a hardened surface on a substrate, comprising: providing a solid mass comprising a first hardness of greater than or equal to 10.3 GPa; processing the solid mass to form a powder; applying the powder to a surface of a substrate to form a layer having a second hardness, at least some of the layer comprising metallic glass; and converting at least some of the metallic glass to a crystalline material having a nanocrystalline grain size of about 50 nm to about 150 nm and having second phase precipitates at grain boundaries having a precipitate size of about 20 nm, the converting of the metallic glass to a crystalline material causing hardening of the layer to form a hardened layer having a third hardness of greater than or equal to 15.0 GPa that is greater than the first hardness and greater than the second hardness.