Detection of helium in irradiated Fe9Cr alloys by coincidence Doppler broadening of slow positron annihilation

Abstract

An element analysis method, coincidence Doppler broadening spectroscopy of slow positron annihilation, was employed to detect helium in ion-irradiated Fe9Cr alloys. Spectra with higher peak to background ratio were recorded using a two-HPGe detector coincidence measuring system. It means that information in the high-momentum area of the spectra can be used to identify helium in metals. This identification is not entirely dependent on the helium concentration in the specimens, but is related to the structure and microscopic arrangement of atoms surrounding the positron annihilation site. The results of Doppler broadening spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy show that vacancies and dislocations were formed in ion-irradiated specimens. Thermal helium desorption spectrometry was performed to obtain the types of He traps.