Mass-Transport in an Austenitic Stainless Steel Under High-Flux, Low-Energy Nitrogen Ion Bombardment at Elevated Temperature

The kinetics of nitriding has been the focus of much research since the introduction of the process [1–3]. Due to unusually advantageous combination of properties the nitriding of an austenitic AISI 304 stainless steel is widely studied. It is shown that ion nitriding provided by ion beam/plasma techniques at elevated temperature (∼400°C) is a potential candidate to overcome the problem of enhancing surface hardness and wear resistance of an austenitic stainless steel without decreasing their corrosion resistance. Gas and liquid nitriding need temperatures between 500 and 600°C, which are detrimental to the corrosion resistance due to structural transformation of alloys.