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Austenitic stainless steel 316L is ion implanted by carbon with implantation fluences of 1.2 × 10 17 ions-cm − 2 , 2.4 × 10 17 ions-cm − 2 , and 4.8 × 10 17 ions-cm − 2 . The ion implantation induced graded microstructure and phase transformation in stainless steel is investigated by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and high resolution transmission electron microscopy. The corrosion resistance is evaluated by potentiodynamic test. It is found that the initial phase is austenite with a small amount of ferrite. After low fluence carbon ion implantation, an amorphous layer and ferrite phase enriched region underneath are formed. Nanophase particles precipitate from the amorphous layer due to energy minimization and irradiation at larger ion implantation fluence. The morphology of the precipitated nanophase particles changes from circular to dumbbell-like with increasing implantation fluence. The corrosion resistance of stainless steel is enhanced by the formation of amorphous layer and graphitic solid state carbon after carbon ion implantation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]