Martensite transformation in antimony implanted stainless steel

The authors have used Rutherford backscattering analysis (RBS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and diffraction to investigate austenitic stainless steel crystals implanted at room temperature with 80 keV Sb+ ions to a fluence of 5 x 1020 ions/m2, thus providing implantation with a heavy group V element. RBS channeling spectra from implanted <110> crystals show a damage peak which approaches the height of the random level and therefore indicates a very high degree of disorder in the implanted layers. The distribution of the disorder extends to a depth 3-5 times the depth of the primary radiation damage. The Sb peaks under channeling as well as random conditions are indistinguishable, confirming that substitutionality during implantation is negligible. To establish the nature of the disorder which cannot be assessed from the RBS analysis alone, and in particular to assess whether an amorphous alloy is formed in the implanted layer as indicated from the RBS spectra, samples implanted under similar conditions were investigated in the TEM. Significant extra spots in the patterns can be ascribed to the presence of a radiation induced b.c.c. phase of martensitic origin. The result that a significant amount of martensite can be induced by antimony implantation seems to indicate that the main driving force for the transition is due to damage induced stress concentrations. (Auth.)