Helium diffusion behavior and its retention in LaNiAl alloy from molecular dynamic simulations

Molecular dynamic method has been used to investigate the diffusion behavior of helium atom in the LaNiAl alloy system. The results have shown that diffusion coefficient of helium atom increases as the temperature increases from 300 to 1500 K, which indicates that helium atom gets more active via thermal desorption. The diffusion coefficient in LaNi₅ and LaNi₄Al are about 1.5 × 10⁻⁵ and 1.1 × 10⁻⁶ cm²/s at 1300 K, respectively, and the diffusion barrier of He are 1.45 and 0.52 eV, respectively. The helium diffusion is shown to be enhanced with temperature increasing. Compared with metallic La, Ni, Al and Pd, the simulation result implies that helium atom is more stable and difficult to diffuse in LaNi₅ and LaNi₄Al alloys, which are the most promising materials for helium retention in experiments. Our results indicate the correlation between diffusion behavior of helium atom and capacity of materials for helium retention. Therefore, it can be considered as a feasible method to evaluate the helium retention capacity of materials via determining the diffusion properties of interstitial helium atom.     

Effect of high temperature annealing on ferromagnetism induced by energetic ion irradiation in FeRh alloy

Effects of thermal annealing on ion-irradiation induced ferromagnetism of Fe-50at.%Rh bulk alloy and the related structural change were investigated by means of superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS), respectively. Depending on the annealing temperature from 100 to 500 °C, the magnetization induced by 10 MeV iodine ion irradiation and the lattice structure of the alloy were remarkably changed. After 500 °C annealing, the magnetization and the lattice ordering of the alloy become similar to the states before the irradiation. The experimental result indicates that the thermal relaxation of irradiation-induced atomic disordering dominates the magnetic state of ion-irradiated Fe-50at.% Rh alloy.     

Deuterium retention of boron-titanium and reduction of deuterium retention after helium ion irradiations

Deuterium ion irradiations with an ion with energy of 1.7 keV were conducted for boron-titanium (B-Ti) film prepared by electron beam evaporation and hot pressed titanium-boride, TiB₂. The amount of retained deuterium was measured for these materials using a technique of thermal desorption spectroscopy. The amount of deuterium retained in TiB₂ was comparable with that in B-Ti. Desorption peaks of deuterium in B-Ti were 470 K and 620 K, corresponding to a desorption in the low temperature regime observed in boron (B) and a desorption in titanium (Ti), respectively. The desorption peaks in TiB₂ were 620 K and 750 K, which correspond to the desorption in Ti and that in the high temperature regime in B, respectively. The desorption temperature in B-Ti was approximately 100 K lower than that in TiB₂. This difference is discussed based upon chemical bindings and amorphous/crystal structures of B-Ti and TiB₂. Irradiation of helium ion with energy of 5 keV was conducted for B-Ti after the deuterium ion irradiation. The amount of retained deuterium decreased and the desorption temperature shifted to the lower temperature regime, as the helium ion fluence increased. The shift to the low temperature regime is due to the enhancement of amorphous structure of B in B-Ti.     

Investigation on Retention and Release Behaviors of Hydrogen and Helium in Vanadium Alloy

Vanadium alloy is proposed as an attractive candidate for first wall and blanket structural material of fusion reactors. The retention and release behaviors of hydrogen and helium in vanadium alloy may be an important issue. In the present work, 1.7 keV deuterium and 5 keV helium ions are respectively implanted into V-4Cr-4Ti and V-4Ti at room temperature. The retention and release of deuterium and helium are measured with thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS). When the helium ion fluence is larger than 3 ×1017 He/cm2, the retained helium saturates with a value of approximately 2.5 ×1017 He/cm2. However, when the ion fluence is 1×1019 D/cm2, the hydrogen saturation in vanadium alloy does not take place. Experimental results indicates that hydrogen and helium retention in vanadium alloy may lead to serious problems and special attention should be paid when it is applied to fusion reactors.     

Hardening of Al-Cu-Mg alloy by energetic ion irradiation

We irradiated Al-Cu-Mg alloy with 10 MeV iodine ions at room temperature and measured the surface microhardness. We analyzed the microstructure using a three-dimensional atom probe. Irradiation for 3.5 h led to an increase in hardness comparable to that obtained after 4 days of aging at 423 K. Precipitates of about 2.9 nm in diameter were distributed homogeneously over the irradiated region. The nanometer-sized precipitates produced by the irradiation caused a remarkable increase in hardness.     

Corrosion characteristics of Hastelloy N alloy after He+ ion irradiation

With the goal of understanding the invalidation problem of irradiated Hastelloy N alloy under the condition of intense irradiation and severe corrosion, the corrosion behavior of the alloy after He⁺ ion irradiation was investigated in molten fluoride salt at 700 °C for 500 h. The virgin samples were irradiated by 4.5 MeV He⁺ ions at room temperature. First, the virgin and irradiated samples were studied using positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) to analyze the influence of irradiation dose on the vacancies. The PALS results showed that He⁺ ion irradiation changed the size and concentration of the vacancies which seriously affected the corrosion resistance of the alloy. Second, the corroded samples were analyzed using synchrotron radiation micro-focused X-ray fluorescence, which indicated that the corrosion was mainly due to the dealloying of alloying element Cr in the matrix. Results from weight-loss measurement showed that the corrosion generally correlated with the irradiation dose of the alloy.     

Microstructural evolution in nickel alloy C-276 after Ar ion irradiation

Irradiation damage in nickel alloy C-276 irradiated by 115 keV argon ions at room temperature with irradiation doses from 0.28 to 82.5 dpa has been investigated by transmission electron microscopy. Nano-scale black spot damage appeared at a dose higher than 0.83 dpa. Large interstitial-type dislocation loops were observed at the dose of 8.25 dpa. Both the density of dislocation loops and the density of network dislocations grew significantly with the increase of irradiation dose. However, the density of network dislocations declined at the dose of 27.5 dpa. But the total of dislocation density (density of dislocation lines plus density of dislocation loops) kept increasing and no signs of saturation were seen in the dose range explored. The results showed that the nickel alloy C-276 had good performance in delaying the development of black spots, dislocations and dislocation loops. However, original grains have formed into subgrains at the dose of 82.5 dpa, meaning that the grains in C-276 lost its structural integrity at doses higher than 82.5 dpa.     

Field emission property of nanostructured tungsten formed by helium plasma irradiation

Field emission property of nanostructured tungsten formed by the exposure to a helium plasma is measured to investigate the initiation process of arcing in nuclear fusion devices. Field emission current from the nanostructured tungsten and tungsten with helium bubbles was significantly higher than that from the polished tungsten specimen. However, field enhancement factor was on the order of 100, which was almost comparable to that of bulk tungsten; the increase in the field emission current is attributed to primarily an increase in the effective emission surface area. From the calculation of thermo-field emission current from a heated tungsten, it is thought that a significant current emission can be still initiated even when the field enhancement factor is not so high when tungsten is exposed to high density plasmas such as the one accompanied with ELMs.     

Synergistic effect of helium and hydrogen for bubble swelling in reduced-activation ferritic/martensitic steel under sequential helium and hydrogen irradiation at different temperatures

In order to investigate the synergistic effect of helium and hydrogen on swelling in reduced-activation ferritic/martensitic (RAFM) steel, specimens were separately irradiated by single He⁺ beam and sequential He⁺ and H⁺ beams at different temperatures from 250 to 650 °C. Transmission electron microscope observation showed that implantation of hydrogen into the specimens pre-irradiated by helium can result in obvious enhancement of bubble size and swelling rate which can be regarded as a consequence of hydrogen being trapped by helium bubbles. But when temperature increased, Ostwald ripening mechanism would become dominant, besides, too large a bubble could become mobile and swallow many tiny bubbles on their way moving, reducing bubble number density. And these effects were most remarkable at 450 °C which was the peak bubble swelling temperature for RAMF steel. When temperature was high enough, say above 450, point defects would become mobile and annihilate at dislocations or surface. As a consequence, helium could no longer effectively diffuse and clustering in materials and bubble formation was suppressed. When temperature was above 500, helium bubbles would become unstable and decompose or migrate out of surface. Finally no bubble was observed at 650 °C.     

Annealing effects of helium implanted single crystals and polycrystalline magnesium aluminate spinel

The effects of transmutation produced -particles and the thermal behaviour of the incorporated helium is simulated by 900 keV ³He ion implantations at 2 μm depth in (100) surface oriented single crystals and in polycrystalline samples. Thermal Helium Desorption Spectrometry (THDS) and Neutron Depth Profiling (NDP) have been applied to study the release rate of helium and changes in the depth profile, respectively, during isothermal annealing. Release of the helium took place in at least two stages in a wide temperature interval ranging from 600 to 1600 K. For polycrystalline spinel an additional high temperature release stage at T> 1300 K was ascribed to trapping in pores. For the high dose implanted single crystals mainly helium release in bursts was observed due to thermally induced flaking.     

强流脉冲离子束辐照对钛合金显微组织的影响

为研究强流辐照过程中钛合金微观组织结构和化学成分的变化,利用束流成分70%H+和30%C+的混合强脉冲离子束对钛合金进行了表面轰击,对离子束诱发的显微组织形貌和化学成分在扫描电子显微镜(SEM)上进行分析。结果表明,钛合金内部组织由α和β两相构成,为α+β型两相钛合金。试样不同区域组织类型存在明显差异,大部分区域组织类型一致,局部区域属于典型的魏氏组织。强流辐照钛合金表层组织和微观结构发生一定的变化,边缘β相结构遭到一定程度的破坏。显微组织结构的变化是由于表层温度梯度引起的热应力及其在靶材体内的传播造成的。     

氦离子辐照对镍基合金硬度的影响

在室温下对镍基合金进行了氦离子辐照,利用纳米压痕仪测试了微观硬度,利用慢正电子多普勒展宽谱(Doppler Broadening Spectrum,DBS)和透射电子显微镜(Transmission Electron Microscope,TEM)分析了微观缺陷,利用离子束分析弹性反冲探测(Elastic Recoil Detection,ERD)技术测量了氦的浓度深度分布。结果显示合金样品的硬度随剂量而增大,退火后合金样品硬度增量有所减小,并观测到氦泡生成。合金硬化的主要原因是由于氦离子辐照产生了1-7 nm的缺陷团簇,而退火后不稳定缺陷的回复及氦-空位复合体数量的减少造成了硬化强度减弱。     

氦离子辐照非晶态合金的表面损伤研究

用扫描电子显微镜研究了室温下氦离子辐照Fe77Ni5B18等 10种非晶态合金的表面形貌。氦离子的能量为 4 0keV和 6 0keV ,总注量为 1.0× 10 18— 4 .0× 10 18He/cm2 。对于不同的注量和不同的材料 ,观察到了层离、发泡、剥落、发泡破裂、二代发泡和多孔结构等多种表面损伤类型。测量了泡的直径和剥落泡皮的厚度 ,并讨论了表面损伤类型和初现的临界注量与材料种类和离子能量的关系。     

Radiation synthesis and characteristics of PTFE-g-PSSA ion exchange membrane applied in vanadium redox battery

Radiation-induced grafting of styrene onto polytetrafluoroethylene （PTFE） membranes was studied by a simultaneous irradiation technique. Grafting was carded out using γ-radiation from a ^60Co source at room temperature. Effects of absorbed dose, atmosphere, dose rate, and the concentration of initial monomer on the degree of grafting （DOG） were investigated and the most appropriate grafting condition was obtained. Subsequently, sulphonation of the grafted PTFE membrane （PTFE-g-PS） was carded out and a series of ion exchange membranes （PTFE-g-PSSA） was prepared. Further characterizations of FTIR, TGA, and SEM testified that grafting and sulphonation of the membranes were successfully processed; moreover, grafting of styrene not only occurred in the surface of PTFE membrane, but also in the micropores of the membrane. Ion exchange capacity （IEC） and conductivity were found increase with the grafting yield. The results suggest that at a low dose, such as 17 kGy, the ion exchange membrane （IEM） which will be suitable for vanadium redox battery （VRB） use can be obtained.     

Resonant ion stimulated desorption of O from the TiO2(1 1 0) surface: Effects of oxygenation and ion bombardment

The O⁺ desorption from reduced, oxygenated, and ion-bombarded TiO₂(1 1 0) surfaces has been investigated during He⁺ irradiation. The O⁺ desorption is initiated by creation of an antibonding O 2s core hole state via quasi-resonant charge exchange with the He⁺ 1s state, followed by the intra-atomic Auger decay of the O 2s hole. Upon oxygenation of the reduced TiO₂(1 1 0) surface, the O⁺ yield increases by one order of magnitude. The O₂ molecule is dissociated at the vacancy site of bridging oxygen and the oxygen atoms either fill a vacancy site or chemisorb at a fivefold-coordinated Ti⁴⁺ site as an adatom. The latter is detected with much higher efficiency than the former. The O⁺ yield is increased during He⁺ bombardment of the reduced TiO₂(1 1 0) surface due to formation of lower coordinated oxygen atoms. The oxygen species thus formed by ion bombardment or oxygenation are unstable on the surface and tend to diffuse into bulk vacancy sites or higher coordination surface sites even at room temperature.     

Analysis of the desorption of clusters of intact amino acid valine molecules induced by energetic monoatomic and cluster ions

The experiments on the desorption of intact valine molecules and (nM + H)⁺ clusters are analyzed and a ln(Y/S_e) − 1/S_e scaling is found where Y, and S_e are the sputtering yield and the electronic stopping power, respectively. The scaling can be derived with the assumption of a thermal activation mechanism. In the plots the desorption is a uniform process without threshold value of S_e, having different activation energies U in various charge states. The desorption of (nM + H)⁺ clusters proceeds in n steps with varying Coulomb contributions. Irradiation with C₁₀ and C₆₀ ions leads to higher Y, however, the increment is reduced with the increase of S_e.     

Effects of energetic heavy ion irradiation on the structure and magnetic properties of FeRh thin films

Fe-54at.%Rh thin films were irradiated with 10 MeV iodine ions at room temperature. Before and after the irradiations, the changes in magnetic properties and the lattice structure of the samples were studied by means of a SQUID magnetometer and X-ray diffraction. For the low fluence irradiation, the SQUID measurement at 20 K shows that the anti-ferromagnetic region of the thin film is changed into ferromagnetic region by the irradiation. As the film thickness is much smaller than the ion range, we can discuss the relationship between the density of energy deposited by ions and the change in magnetization quantitatively. For the high fluence irradiation, the magnetization of the film is strongly decreased by the irradiation, which can be explained as due to the change in lattice structure from B2 into A1 structure by the irradiation.     

Track creation after swift heavy ion irradiation of insulators

The dynamics of structural modifications of insulators irradiated with swift heavy ions were investigated theoretically applying a combination of Monte-Carlo method (MC), used to describe SHI penetration and following excitation and relaxation of the electronic subsystem, with Two Temperature Model (TTM) describing the heating of the lattice. This MC-TTM combination demonstrates that secondary ionizations play a very important role for the track formation process. They lead to an additional term in the heat diffusion equation related to energy stored in the hole subsystem. This storage of energy causes a significant delay of heating and prolongs the timescales up to tens of picoseconds.     

Temporal and spatial evolution measurement of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy on hydrogen retention in tantalum

Fuel retention measurement on plasma-facing components is an active field of study in magnetic confinement nuclear fusion devices.The laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy(LIBS)diagnostic method has been well demonstrated to detect the elemental distribution in PFCs.In this work,an upgraded co-axis LIBS system based on a linear fiber bundle collection system has been developed to measure the hydrogen(H) retention on a tantalum(Ta) sample under a vacuum condition.The spatial resolution measurement of the different positions of the LIBS plasma can be achieved simultaneously with varying delay times.The temporal and spatial evolution results of LIBS plasma emission show that the H plasma observably expands from the delay times of 0-200 ns.The diameter of Ta plasma is about 6 mm which is much less than the size of H plasma after 200 ns.The difference in the temporal and spatial evolution behaviors between H plasma and Ta plasma is due to the great difference in the atomic mass of H and Ta.The depth profile result shows that H retention mainly exists on the surface of the sample.The temporal and spatial evolution behaviors of the electron excited temperature are consistent with that of the Ta emission.The result will further improve the understanding of the evolution of the dynamics of LIBS plasma and optimize the current collection system of in situ LIBS in fusion devices.