Radiation-Damaged Tungsten: Production and Study in a Steady-State Plasma Flux

Abstract

The effect of deuterium plasma on tungsten with high levels of radiation damage was studied experimentally. Tungsten was examined as a candidate plasma-facing material for a fusion reactor. The effect of damage accumulation in a material irradiated with fusion neutrons was simulated using high-energy ions. Primary radiation defects of 1–100 dpa were produced in tungsten irradiated with He²⁺ and C³⁺ ions accelerated to 3–10 MeV in the cyclotron at the Kurchatov Institute with a fluence of 10¹⁷–10¹⁹ ion/cm². The irradiated material was exposed to deuterium plasma at the LENTA linear plasma facility operated in the continuous regime and providing a plasma flux of 10²¹–10²² D/cm². The erosion dynamics, the development of surface microstructure, and the accumulation of deuterium in tungsten were studied. Enhanced retention of deuterium was observed in the samples damaged both by helium and carbon ions at room temperature (ERDA). The effect of deuterium retention was suppressed in the damaged tungsten samples processed at a temperature of 500°C.