2024 aluminum alloy was implanted with nitrogen then titanium finally carbon by plasma-based ion implantatio to form a gradient layer.The structure and tribological properties of the layer were investigated.Its composition profiles and chemical states were analyzed with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS).The surface carbonlayer was analyzed by Raman spectrum.The appearances were observed by atomic force microscope(AFM).Thesurface hardness was measured with the mechanical property microprobe.The dry wear tests against GCr15 steelball at various sliding loads were performed with a ball-on-disk wear tester in ambient environment.The resultsshow that the thickness of the modified layer is 1 200 nm,the carbon layer is a smooth and compact diamond-likecarbon(DLC)films,and the carbon-titanium interface is broadened due to carbon ions implantation,resulting in agood composition and structure transition between DLC films and titanium layer.Surface hardness is improvedmarkedly,with a slow and uniform change.Tribological properties are improved greatly although they reduce withthe increase of sliding loads because the modified layer becomes thin rapidly.