Microscopic work function anisotropy and surface chemistry of 316L stainless steel using photoelectron emission microscopy

N. Barrett (1) , O. Renault (2) , H. Lemaître (3, 4) , P. Bonnaillie (5) , F. Barcelo (6) , F. Miserque (7) , M. Wang (8) , C. Corbel (8)

1 LENSIS - Laboratoire d'Etude des NanoStructures et Imagerie de Surface
2 CEA-LETI - Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives - Laboratoire d'Electronique et de Technologie de l'Information
3 Department of Physics and Astronomy [Aarhus]
4 UCP - Université de Cergy Pontoise
5 SRMP - Service de recherches de métallurgie physique
6 LA2M - Laboratoire d'Analyse Microstructurale des Matériaux
7 LECA - Laboratoire d'Etude de la Corrosion Aqueuse
8 LSI - Laboratoire des Solides Irradiés

We have studied the variation in the work function of the surface of sputtered cleaned 316L stainless steel with only a very thin residual oxide surface layer as a function of grain orientation using X-ray photo-electron emission microscopy (XPEEM) and Electron Backscattering Diffraction. The grains are mainly oriented [1 1 1] and [1 0 1]. Four distinct work function values spanning a 150 meV energy window are measured. Grains oriented [1 1 1] have a higher work function than those oriented [1 0 1]. From core level XPEEM we deduce that all grain surfaces are Cr enriched and Ni depleted whereas the Cr/Fe ratio is similar for all grains. The [1 1 1] oriented grains show evidence for a Cr 2 O 3 surface oxide and a higher concentration of defective oxygen sites.

Keywords: Austenitic steel; Work function; X-ray photoelectron emission microscopy; EBSD; X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

Domains: Physics [physics]

N. Barrett, O. Renault, H. Lemaître, P. Bonnaillie, F. Barcelo, et al.. Microscopic work function anisotropy and surface chemistry of 316L stainless steel using photoelectron emission microscopy. Journal of Electron Spectroscopy and Related Phenomena, 2014, 195, pp.117 - 124. ⟨10.1016/j.elspec.2014.05.015⟩. ⟨cea-01376760⟩