Abstract The influence of bonding temperature during impulse pressure assisted diffusion bonding on characteristics of AISI 304 austenitic stainless steel has been reported in this paper. Austenitic stainless steel sheets were joined by impulse pressure assisted diffusion bonding in a temperature range of 850–950 °C. The bond interface was analyzed by tensile shear testing, optical microscope, field emission scanning electron microscope. The soundness of the diffusion bond was evaluated by calculating the interface bonding ratio (ratio of void free interface length to the total interface length). The effect of diffusion bonding temperature on tensile properties and interface bonding ratio was investigated. The maximum tensile shear load carrying capacity of the diffusion bond obtained was 34.42 kN at 950 °C. The structural analysis revealed good joint quality of the diffusion bonds and 91.25% bonding interface ratio at 950 °C bonding temperature.