Hydrogen Isotopes in Tungsten at Low Temperature – Implantation, Morphology and Isotopic Exchange

The behavior of hydrogen isotopes in tungsten below room temperature is studied in order to gain a better microscopic understanding and to provide valuable input for predictive modelling. Deuterium implantation into tungsten at temperatures down to 134K is studied in detail regarding the achievable deuterium retention as well as the induced surface morphology e.g. blister by means of in-situ NRA , SEM and EBSD. The influence of the created blister on deuterium transport is also investigated, revealing a strong suppression of deuterium diffusion into the bulk. Furthermore hydrogen isotope exchange in tungsten is performed at low temperature to verify the fill-level dependent de-trapping model proposed by DFT calculations.