Hydrogen Isotope Trapping in Tungsten During Cyclic Irradiation by Deuterium and Hydrogen Ions in Oxygen-containing Atmosphere

Abstract

An investigation on mechanisms of hydrogen and deuterium trapping in tungsten during irradiation by hydrogen ion plasma with oxygen impurity using the methods of thermal desorption spectrometry (TDS) and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) is presented in this paper. It was shown that almost 40% of trapped particles were retained in the surface oxide layer after first implantation of deuterium. Subsequent irradiation by hydrogen plasma with oxygen impurity lead to the increase of oxygen concentration and hydrogen trapping in the oxide layer and tungsten bulk. In the next cycle, which started with deuterium implantation, oxygen concentration in the oxide layer decreased and some hydrogen was removed from tungsten. Then an increase of hydrogen and oxygen concentration in the sample repeated during irradiation with ions of (H₂ + 1 at. % O₂) plasma. The same sequence of processes was observed during subsequent irradiation cycles.