Abstract: The in-situ self-generating Ti(C, N) ceramic coating prepared on the surface of Ti-6Al-4V alloy by laser cladding (LC) deposition was investigated, where a 500 W pulsed YAG laser was used as radiation source with the 99%-purity N2 used for nitrogenation and the titanium powder (particle size 20 μm) mixed with powdered graphite used as the precursor. The effects of the in-situ self-generating reaction mechanism and such process parameters as pulse width, pulse frequency and scanning speed on the coating were studied by thermodynamic analysis in combination with XRD. XRD results showed that the main phases of the coating are TiC0.3N0.7 and TiN or TiN0.3, and that the appropriate process parameters include the pulse frequency 15 Hz, pulse width around 3.0 ms, scanning speed in the range from 2.0 to 4.0 mm/s, N2 pressure 0.4 MPa and defocus distance 15 mm. The metallographic results showed that the dendrite structure is dominant in the coating and distributed quite uniformly, and that the ceramic coating is bonded well to the substrate.