BASIC PROPERTIES OF SPUTTERED 310 STAINLESS-STEEL NITROGEN COATINGS

310 stainless steel (SS)-nitrogen coatings with a nitrogen composition up to 40 at.% (14 wt.%) were deposited on steel substrates below 300-degrees-C by d.c. reactive magnetron sputtering in mixed Ar-N2 discharges using amagnetic austenitic 310 SS targets. The chemical and structural characterization of the coatings is presented in relation to the deposition parameters, and some of their properties (internal stress, adhesion, microhardness etc.) are evaluated. The as-deposited coating structure is usually a metastable disordered supersaturated f.c.c. solid solution but, depending on the substrate temperature and nitrogen concentration, an amorphous-like structure is seen to occur.