The pitting corrosion behavior of an austenitic stainless steel nanocrystalline (NC) coating, fabricated by magnetron sputtering as well as that of the conventional polycrystalline (PC) alloy have been investigated in 3.5% NaCl solution by stochastic approach and in situ atomic force microscopy (AFM). The results indicate that the pitting corrosion resistance of the NC coating was much higher than that of the PC alloy with higher prevalence of metastable pits and lower rates of stable pit nucleation and growth. The influence of nanocrystallization on the pit initiation and pit growth processes has been discussed according to the in situ AFM observations. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.