Plasma Nitriding of Stainless Steel in Non-Self-Sustained Gas Discharge with Hollow Anode and Pulsed Bias

Results on plasma nitriding of AISI 430 stainless steel samples have been presented. The nitriding process has been carried out in nitrogen plasma of non-self-sustained gas discharge with hollow anode in Bulat type device with pulsed biasing mode and repetition frequency 50 kHz. The phase composition of the obtained coatings was analyzed via X-ray diffraction (XRD). The surface morphology was monitored by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) whereas chemical composition was examined by using energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX). Vickers hardness was used as criteria to determine the diffusion zone thickness and the boundary to the steel base.