Deuterium retention in W-Ta alloys after low-temperature plasma irradiation and gas exposure

Abstract

In this study plates of W, W-xTa alloys (x = 1; 3; 5 concentration in at.%) with a large grain size were used as experimental samples. All the samples were polished to a mirror surface and outgassed in vacuum at 1100 K during 2 h. Sets of W, W-1Ta, W-3Ta, W-5Ta samples were irradiated with low-temperature D plasma up to fluences of 2e25 D m−2. Other sets of W, W-1Ta, W-3Ta, W-5Ta samples were exposed in D2 gas in a temperature range of 425 ÷ 625 K and pressure 103 Pa. The D retention in W and W-Ta alloys was measured by thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS). An influence of Ta dopant on deuterium retention in W was observed. The dopant of tantalum slightly reduces the accumulation of deuterium in tungsten during gas exposure. Increasing temperature of samples during D-plasma irradiation from 415 K to 615 K reduces deuterium retention up to 2 orders of magnitude.