Structural and quantitative analysis of stainless steel coatings deposited by DC-magnetron sputtering in a reactive atmosphere

Stainless steel coatings were deposited on low carbon steel and thin SiO2 substrates by DC-magnetron sputtering in a reactive atmosphere containing argon, nitrogen and hydrogen. The total mass flow of nitrogen was kept constant (8 sccm) for all depositions and the hydrogen mass flow was varied between 0 and 9 sccm while argon mass flow was chosen to obtain a total pressure of 0.28 Pa in the chamber. The elemental composition of coatings and the deposition rates were studied by Rutherford backscattering (RBS), by X-ray emission induced by charge particles (PIXE), by nuclear reactions (NRA) and by resonant nuclear reactions (RNRA). The hydrogen and nitrogen contents in the deposited layers are found to increase with increasing hydrogen mass flow and the deposition rates are decreased with decreasing of argon mass flow. The hydrogen depth profiles in the coatings show an accumulation of hydrogen located at the surface and the interface. A structural analysis by means of conversion electron Mössbauer spectroscopy (CEMS) was also performed. The results indicate that some minor structural modifications were observed when the mass flow of hydrogen was increased.