Sharma, P., Vas, J. V., Medwal, R., Mishra, M., Chaurasiya, A., Luai, M. T., … Rawat, R. S. (2021). High energy density pulsed argon plasma synthesized nanostructured tungsten for damage mitigation under fusion relevant energetic he ion irradiation. Applied Surface Science Advances, 6, 100172. doi:10.1016/j.apsadv.2021.100172
Abstract:
Tungsten (W) is considered as one of the promising candidates for plasma facing
components in fusion reactors since it has high threshold energy, high melting point, low threshold
shock resistance, and resistance against formation of co-deposits with tritium. Despite these
commendable features, helium ions produced during fusion reaction are known to alter the
microstructure of tungsten. In this work, dense plasma focus (DPF) device is used to study the
delivering a heat load of
per shot. The irradiation of virgin W samples is carried out at 5, 10, 15 and 20 shots.
High heat loads resulted in blisters and micro-cracks on the sample surface. With an increase in
the number of shots, the density of the blisters increased and craters on the W surface burst
followed by re- Surface nano-structurization,
with nanoparticle formation, of W samples (nano-W) is realized by high-energy argon ion
exposure of virgin samples in an argon filled DPF device. The average size of nanoparticles is
found to increase with the number of shots and also leads to particle agglomeration. At 10 shots,
uniformly distributed highly dense nanoparticles of 20-50 nm size have been synthesized. The
nano-W samples are then irradiated by instability-accelerated high-energy helium ions in helium
filled DPF device to simulate fusion relevant conditions. The presence of the trapped helium
bubbles in virgin-W and nano-W are examined by BSE imaging and XRD, respectively. The
nanostructured tungsten shows improved structure and surface properties against Helium ion
irradiation.
License type:
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
Funding Info:
This research / project is supported by the International Atomic Energy Agency - Coordinated Research Projects (CRP)
Grant Reference no. : F13019
This research / project is supported by the Ministry of Education (MOE) - Academic Fund Tier 2 grant
Grant Reference no. : ARC 1/17 RSR
This research / project is supported by the Ministry of Education (MOE) - Academic Fund Tier 2 grant
Grant Reference no. : 2017-T2-2-129
This research / project is supported by the Ministry of Education (MOE) - Academic Fund Tier 2 grant
Grant Reference no. : ARC 1/19 RSR
This research / project is supported by the Ministry of Education (MOE) - Academic Fund Tier 2 grant
Grant Reference no. : 2020-T2-1-058