Austenitic stainless steel patterning by plasma assisted diffusion treatments

The new concept of surface texturing or surface patterning on austenitic stainless steel by plasma assisted diffusion treatment is presented in this paper. It allows the creation of uniform micro or nano relief with regularly shaped asperities or depressions. Plasma assisted diffusion treatments are based on the diffusion of nitrogen and/or carbon in a metallic material at moderate to elevated temperatures. Below 420°C, a plasma assisted nitriding treatment of austenitic stainless steel produces a phase usually called expanded austenite. Expanded austenite is a metastable nitrogen supersaturated solid solution with a disordered fcc structure and a distorted lattice. The nitrided layer with the expanded austenite is highly enriched in nitrogen (from 10 to 35 at%) and submitted to high compressive residual stresses. From mechanical consideration, it is shown that the only possible deformation occurs in the direction perpendicular to the surface. Such an expansion of the layer from the initial surface of the substrate to the gas phase is used here for surface patterning of stainless steel parts. The surface patterning is performed by using masks (TEM grid) and multi-dipolar plasmas.