Positron beam and RBS studies of thermally grown oxide films on stainless steel grade 304

The formation of oxide films on surfaces of stainless steel 304 AISI annealed at 800 °C in vacuum, air and in flow N2 atmospheres was studied using variable energy positron beam technique (VEP) and Rutherford backscattering/nuclear reaction (RBS/NR) methods. In frame of these studies, Doppler broadening of annihilation line (DB) measurements were performed. For a sample heated in vacuum the oxide film ca. 8 nm is observed. For specimens oxidized in air and N2 the multi-layered oxide films of about a few hundred nanometers are recognized. The RBS/NR measurements have shown that the sample annealed in vacuum contains a lower quantity of oxygen while for samples heated in the air and N2 non-linear and rather linear time-dependency are observed, respectively. The thicknesses of total oxide films obtained from RBS/NR tests are in good agreement with the VEP results. Time evolution of the oxide growing was studied as well.