Hydrogen release from deposition layers formed from 316 stainless steel by hydrogen plasma sputtering

Deposition layers were formed from type 316 stainless steel by a sputtering method using hydrogen RF plasma at 110 °C, 150 °C and 200 °C. Hydrogen release behavior from the deposition layers was observed by a thermal desorption method and hydrogen retention and release rate were quantified. The values of hydrogen atomic ratio in the deposition layers were in the range from 0.12 to 0.17 as H/(Fe+Cr+Ni+Mo). These values are in agreement with the values of H/W and He/W in tungsten deposition layers. Hydrogen atomic ratio to metal atoms in a metallic deposition layer seems not to depend on the kind of the metal constituting it. It was observed that the microstructure of the deposition layer obviously differed depending on the substrate temperature.