ON THE HYPERFINE FIELD OF BCC 304 L STAINLESS-STEEL FILMS

We show that by ion-beam sputtering of a 304 L stainless steel target under ultra high vacuum, it is possible to elaborate thin films exhibi ting both a bcc single phase and a strongly ferromagnetic structure at 293 K. The hyperfine field measured at the Fe-57 nucleus using the Mo ssbauer effect is studied in details as a function of sample thickness . The field value is close to that of bulk alpha-iron while the direct ion of the magnetization lies in the film plane when the thickness of the sample is approximately 0.4 mum. Experimental values are compared with data available in the literature. The possible role of chromium a toms is also discussed.