Stainless steel films deposited by de unbalanced magnetron sputtering using SUS304 steel target

We have deposited stainless steel films onto glass slides under various ion bombardment conditions by de unbalanced magnetron sputtering. The apparatu s was equipped with an external coil around the magnetron cathode which all ows us to alter the ion flux to the substrate. A commercial SUS304 steel disk (phi 50 mm x 2 mm) was used as a target. The sputtering gas was Ar (99.999%) and its pressure ranged from 0.2 to 1.0 Pa . The applied de power and external coil current were also varied in the ra nge P-dc = 100 similar to 220 W and I-c = -3 similar to4 A, respectively. T he crystal structure, composition, internal stress, corrosion resistance an d hardness of deposited films were examined. The deposited films showed bcc structure with strong (110) preferred orient ation. The film surface looks like martensite with very fine grain. The Cr composition in deposited films appeared to decrease about 2 mass% compared to target material. The ion bombardment showed very small effect on the str ucture and the composition of deposited films. The corrosion resistance and the hardness of the films seemed to be much better than bulk material.