The current work presents the deposition of TiC/ Inconel 625 metal matrix composites (MMC) coating through pre-placed powder bed laser cladding method using a Yb-Fiber laser, under two different conditions, with and without the application of ultrasonic vibration to the work-piece with frequency ranging from 28 to 34 kHz. The disintegration of the TiC particles and its distribution in the matrix was observed under various process parameters (laser power, scan speed and vibration frequency), and the microstructural changes were correlated with the molten pool lifetime obtained from the temperature history of the clad layer, captured using an IR-Pyrometer. The laser cladding without the application of vibration was conducted under constant and variable line energy to study the effect of laser interaction time and laser power on the microstructural evolution under fixed and variable heat flux. Higher molten pool lifetime (due to slow scan speed) at constant laser power resulted in higher disintegration of the MMC particles and formation of dendrites, whereas higher laser power under constant heat flux also resulted the same. Further, the application of ultrasonic vibration, specifically a higher vibration amplitude (at lower vibration frequency) was found to be responsible for more uniform distribution of TiC particles due to breaking of agglomerates, which led to higher hardness. © 2023 CIRP