Magnetic and thermal properties of some austenitic stainless steels at low temperatures

Abstract

Measurements of the thermal conductivity λ of some stainless steels (AISI types 304, 304L, 310, 321, and U.S. Steel Tenelon) between 0.4 and 1.6 °K, and of the electrical resistivity and magnetic susceptibility below 295 °K are given. Between 0.7 and 1.6 °K, λ depends linearly on temperature and is given to within ±15% for all samples by λ=0.67T(mW/cm °K). All samples show antiferromagnetic order. The susceptibility of Tenelon is about 20×10−6 emu for all temperatures below 295 °K and is smaller than that for any of the other samples by over an order of magnitude at 4.2 °K.