Hydrogen vibrations in austenitic fcc Fe-Cr-Mn-Ni steels

By neutron spectroscopy, we studied vibrations of H interstitials in two austenitic fcc steels (Fe0.55Cr0.20Mn0.10Ni0.15 and Fe0.54Cr0.27Ni0.19) doped with 0.37 and 0.33 at% H. The band modes, in which H vibrates with its metal neighbours, cause a weak intensity in the energy range of the acoustic vibrations of the H-free steels. The energies of the fundamental and the twofold local-mode excitations, in which H vibrates against its metal neighbours, were similar to130 and similar to260meV, respectively. The respective peaks in the spectra were broadened because the metal neighbours of H, and thus its vibrational energies, vary from interstitial site to interstitial site. The above energy values support an H occupation of octahedral interstitial sites.