Effect of helium implantation on SiC and graphite**Project supported by the ITER-National Magnetic Confinement Fusion Program, China (Grant Nos. 2010GB109000, 2011GB108009, and 2014GB123000) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 11075119).

Abstract

Effects of helium implantation on silicon carbide (SiC) and graphite were studied to reveal the possibility of SiC replacing graphite as plasma facing materials. Pressureless sintered SiC and graphite SMF-800 were implanted with He+ ions of 20 keV and 100 keV at different temperatures and different fluences. The He+ irradiation induced microstructure changes were studied by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).