A titanium diboride target contains fractions of one or more metals from the group including iron, nickel, cobalt and chromium as well as carbon. The mean grain size of TiB2 grains is between 1 μm and 20 μm, the carbon content is in a range of 0.1 to 5% by weight and the total content of Fe, Ni, Co and/or Cr is in a range of 500 to 3,000 μg/g. The carbon is distributed in free form at the grain boundaries of the TiB2 grains in such a way that mean distances between individual carbon particles are less than 20 μm. The porosity is less than 5% by volume.