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

Abstract

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.