Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics
Lomonosov Moscow State University

Nitriding is an important technology for improving of mechanical and anticorrosion properties of iron and steels. It was recently shown that also ultrasoft magnetic properties of iron and some steels can be obtained by incorporation of atomic nitrogen with a concentration around 5-15 at%%. In this work the properties and formation conditions of the most important stable and metastable phases in the Fe-N system are shortly reviewed. The installed in SINP MSU apparatus for thermochemical nitriding in NH3+H2 gas mixture is described, which allows a reliable formation of desired phase composition of nitrides in the materials. Selected examples of formation of nitriding of foils and analysis of nitrogen content, using the backscattering of protons with the energies in the range 1.5-2.2 MeV.