Helium Evolution Research Articles

Hydrogen-free Wolf-Rayet stars: Helium stars with envelope-inflation structure and rotation

Context. Observations have shown that the effective temperature of hydrogen-free Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars is considerably lower than that of the standard model, which means that the radius of the observed H-free WR stars is several times larger than that estimated by the standard model. The envelope inflation structure (EIS) caused by the radiation luminosity being close to the Eddington luminosity in the iron opacity peak region of H-free WR stars may be the key to resolving the radius problem of H-free WR stars. Aims. We study the structure and evolution of helium (He) stars with the EIS and discuss the influence of rotation on these He stars. We aim to explain the radius problem of H-free WR stars observed in the Milky Way (MW) and the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) through the He stars. Methods. Using the Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics code, we compute the evolution of He stars with and without MLT++ prescriptions, and discuss their effects on the EIS. We calculated the evolution of He stars using a new mass-loss rate formula and three different relative rotational velocities and compared our results with observations on Hertzsprung–Russell diagrams. Results. The EIS has different effects on the structure and evolution of He stars with different masses. Due to the luminosity well below the Eddington limit, low-mass He stars with an initial mass of less than 12 M⊙ do not produce EIS with or without the MLT++ prescription. High-mass He stars with an initial mass exceeding 12 M⊙ and without the MLT++ prescription produce the EIS. Since the EIS is Eddington factor Γ-dependent, its radius increases with the increase in metallicity and decreases with rotational velocity increase. For rotating low-mass He stars, since the rotational mixing timescale is smaller than the evolutionary timescale, rotational mixing can increase the lifetime and allow He stars to evolve into WC stars during the helium giant phase. For rotating high-mass He stars, since rotation increases the mass-loss rate, the radius of the EIS decreases as rotational velocity increases. The rotation-decay timescale of rapidly rotating He stars is very short, and the rapidly rotating He stars only appear within the first one-tenth of their lifetime, which is consistent with the observations of WR stars. Conclusions. The low-luminosity (log(L/L⊙)≤5.2) H-free WR stars in the MW and the LMC can be explained by the helium giant phase in low-mass He stars, the high XC and XO in WC stars can only evolve through low-mass He stars with a rapid rotation. High-mass He stars with the EIS can explain H-free WR stars with a luminosity exceeding 105.7 L⊙ and an effective temperature above 104.7 K in the MW. They can also explain H-free WR stars on the right-hand side of the He zero-age main sequence in the LMC. High-mass stars with the EIS evolve into WO stars at the final evolution stage, and the shorter lifetime fraction is consistent with the small number of observed WO stars.

Helium-driven element depletion and phase transformation in irradiated Ti3SiC2 at high temperature

Future nuclear reactors and advanced power generators require materials with good stability and damage tolerance under harsh conditions, including high temperatures and high-dose radiation. Ti3SiC2 MAX phase has good physical properties and mechanical strength. It can remain crystalline under serious microstructure damage due to the nanolaminate structure. In this study, the effects of helium in irradiated Ti3SiC2 at up to 1100 °C were investigated by microstructural and chemical composition analysis. The concentrated helium can grow into large bubbles without significant confinement or capture by the nano-laminated layers. A new hexagonal to fcc phase transformation mechanism, driven mainly by the evolution of the helium bubbles accompanied by Si diffusion and depletion, is found and investigated. Si interstitials are forced to move out from the peak helium region by the helium evolution and segregate at the outermost surface, forming a thin Si-O layer, at 1100 °C. The formation of the fcc phase is the result of chemical compositional changes and local compressive stress contributed by He bubbles.

Helium behavior and vacancy‐defect evolution in nickel‐base alloy by helium ion beam irradiation and annealing

Nickel‐base alloys have been selected as a potential metallic material for reactor internals in Generation IV reactors. In order to evaluate their helium embrittlement resistance, microstrain changes and evolution of vacancy‐type defects after Helium irradiation and postimplantation annealing have been studied by grazing incidence X‐ray diffraction (GIXRD) and slow positron doppler broadening spectroscopy (PDB). GIXRD results show that the increase in microstrain after helium irradiation is more pronounced at high doses. The observed S parameters of PDB increase with the irradiation doses, which indicates a significant number of vacancy‐type defects, possibly helium‐vacancy clusters. For postimplantation annealing specimens, the microstrain characterized by GIXRD has recovered. The surprise is the S parameters that significantly increase, revealing that helium atoms trapped at unstable helium‐vacancy clusters desorb during annealing, contributing to the growth of helium bubbles. These findings of microstrain mechanisms and vacancy‐type defects behaviors give us new insights into the helium irradiation evaluation.

Defects in H/He neutral beam irradiated potassium doped tungsten alloy by positron annihilation technique

Pure tungsten (W) is a primary plasm-facing material (PFM) candidate because of its superior properties, but it still has some drawbacks. In order to solve these problems, various methods have been used to improve the performances of tungsten-based materials. Potassium (K) doping, as one of the typical dispersion-strengthening methods for W materials, improves low temperature brittleness, reduces the ductile-brittle transition temperature, and suppresses the recrystallization. Meanwhile, it also improves the thermal shock resistance and fracture toughness of the material by introducing nano-sized K bubbles. However, this method brings a large number of defects inevitably. In fact, the K bubbles and the dislocations which are pinned by these K bubbles can affect the morphology and evolution of hydrogen (H) and helium (He) atoms in the alloys. As a very sensitive method to detect vacancy-type defects in materials, positron annihilation spectroscopy is used to study the irradiation damage caused by H and He atoms in this paper. The calculation of positron lifetime shows that positrons are more sensitive to the vacancy-type defects. Bounding of H and He with vacancies reduces the positron lifetime because of the increase of valence electron density. Combining the calculated results with the positron annihilation lifetime spectrum (PLAS) results shows that the W-K alloy is easier to promote the H atoms to release. Besides, it also more likely to form larger He bubbles which can be estimated by positron lifetime values. The result is also confirmed by the measurements from the scanning electron microscope (SEM) and slow positron Doppler broadening spectroscopy (DBS). The defects in the W-K alloy such as K bubbles and their pinned dislocations can act as diffusion channels to promote the H atoms to release, which gives rise to a smoother surface under the pure H irradiation. Meanwhile, under the condition of the H+6%He irradiation, the K bubbles and their pinned dislocations in the W-K alloy become the capture center of He atoms, promote their nucleation and grow into larger He bubbles. Moreover, under the action of stress and temperature gradient, some of the He bubbles migrate to the surface and release, this process is conducive to the recovery of related defects and the reduction of radiation damage.

Suppressing/enhancing effect of rhenium on helium clusters evolution in tungsten: Dependence on rhenium distribution

The influence of rhenium (Re) on helium (He) evolution in tungsten (W) with different Re distribution is investigated using the first-principles calculations in combination with thermodynamic models. It is found that the He behaviors in W-Re system are closely related to the Re distribution. For the dispersed distribution of Re in W, it is found that a single Re atom only has slight effect on the behaviors of a He atom due to the weak interaction of Re-He1. Interestingly, with the increasing of He numbers, the binding energy between a single Re and He clusters increases rapidly from 0.03 eV for Re-He1 to 0.72 eV for Re-He4. Such high binding energy indicates the strong attraction of Re with He clusters in W. This can be rationalized by the large lattice distortion induced by He clusters, which reduces the electron density of He-occupied position and leads to the transition of neighboring Re/W atom from a substitutional site to an interstitial site. Because of the strong attraction of Re with He clusters, the Re addition effectively reduce the mobility of He clusters in W. As for the aggregated Re distribution, the He trapping capability of vacancy is weakened by Re clusters. These results are well consistent with the experimental observed suppressing effects of Re on the He-induced morphology in W. Further, based on the He behaviors in W-Re σ phase, we suppose that He will segregate from bulk W to Re-rich precipitates, thus enhancing the formation of He clusters. Consequently, our calculations suggest that the distribution of Re plays a key role on the He behaviors in W, which provides a good reference for the design and development of W-based alloys.

Simulation study of evolution of helium induced defects in bulk tungsten

Molecular dynamics (MD) methods have been employed to study the point defects production induced by helium (He) plasma exposure and He bubbles interactions in bulk tungsten (W) from the atomic-level perspective. The primary variables examined are: simulation temperature ranging between 300 K and 2300 K, He concentration ranging between 741 appm and 2963 appm in order to study the effects of temperature and He concentration on micro-structural evolution, especially the Frenkel pairs number evolution; for the He bubble, radius up to around 1.25 nm, the He/V ratio up to around 3. In this work, the Frenkel pairs production induced by He aggregation and the volume change of bubble because of the He bubbles interactions are obtained. The results show that the number of Frenkel pairs produced generally increases as the temperature and He concentration increase, but it may reach a saturation with a higher He concentration. It is also found that the equilibrium He/V ratios of He-V bubbles are mainly ranged from 1.6 to 1.9. In addition, we observed that the He atoms in smaller bubble may be trapped into the larger bubble in the cases of their distance below 2 lattice parameters. Due to the decrease in number of He atoms, the He/V ratio of small bubble would decrease. These results can also contribute to the understanding for nucleation and growth of He bubbles in bulk W that are observed by the experiment techniques.

Seismic probe of transport processes in red giants

Seismic data obtained with the space photometric CoRoT and Kepler instruments have led to a unprecendently precise characterization- in terms of masses and ages- of a large sample of post main sequence stars (low mass subgiant and red giants). The high quality of the collected seismic data and the subsequent theoretical work for interpreting them brought up a series of issues which revealed that our knowledge of the internal properties of red giant stars remains quite limited. Two such important issues are discussed here, namely mixing beyond the convective core of helium burning red giant stars and evolution of internal angular momentum for post main sequence stars. This includes how they were diagnosed and what are the resulting improvements in our understanding regarding these issues (or rather how far we are from a proper understanding and realistic modelling of the structure and evolution of post main sequence stars).

Regulating the helium bubble nucleation in the titanium tritides by environment temperature during the early aging period

The nucleation of helium bubbles in the early aging stage of tritium storage materials will have an important influence on the bubble growth behavior in the whole of aging. Herein, the nucleation of helium bubbles was adjusted by environment temperature at the first 15 days immediately after preparation of polycrystalline titanium tritide films. The influence of the environment temperature on the nucleation of helium bubbles were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), positron annihilation spectroscopy (PAS), thermal helium desorption spectroscopy (THDS) and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). Results demonstrate that the helium bubble nucleation is significantly affected by the environment temperature of −60 °C, 20 °C and 120 °C. The higher the environment temperature, the lower number density of helium bubble in the titanium tritide films. The helium bubble nucleation mechanism is strongly correlated to the helium atom diffusion coefficient that is controlled by the environment temperature. During the following aging, the rate of helium atoms captured by a single helium bubble increases in titanium tritides with low number density bubbles, which accelerates the growth of helium bubbles in the matrix. However, the low number density bubbles also decrease the capture probability of free helium atoms by helium bubbles, resulting in the increase of helium atoms diffusing to infinite size defects such as grain boundaries macroscopically, and accelerating the evolution of helium in titanium tritides.

Helium desorption behavior and growth mechanism of helium bubbles in FeCrNi film

Abstract He-charged FeCrNi films were prepared by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering technique, and helium desorption behavior, growth process and evolution mechanism of helium bubbles in FeCrNi film were studied by thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS) spectra combined with microstructure analysis under different annealing treatments. Three different He desorption peaks were observed in TDS spectra, which can be related to the release of interstitial helium atoms from the near-surface regions, helium-vacancy clusters with different sizes in FeCrNi film. TEM analysis showed that helium bubbles can be uniformly distributed in He-charged FeCrNi nanocrystalline films. Under annealing treatments at different temperatures, the size of helium bubbles obviously increases with increasing annealing temperature, corresponding to the significantly decrease in the number density of helium bubbles in FeCrNi films, and the growth mechanism of helium bubbles was suggested to originate from the migration and coalescence (MC) mechanism.

Helium bubble growth under strain fields in tungsten investigated by atomic method

The evolution of helium (He) bubble and dislocation loop from loop punching process affected by external strain field have been studied at atomic scale with hydrostatic strains of around −2% to 2%. The 1st maximal displacements of tungsten atoms around HenV, the formation energy of HenV clusters and the binding energy between the clusters and He are calculated, indicating that the number of He atoms needed to form the 1st self-interstitial atom (SIA) increases from tensile state to compressive state, and the configurations of the 1st SIAs are all in the form of 〈1 1 1〉 crowdion, independent of applied strains. Comparing to the case without external strain effect, the tensile and compressive strains affect not only the critical number of He atoms to punch the 1st loop in loop-punching process but also the Burgers vectors of formed loops. All these results provide a new understanding to radiation damages related with He bubble growth in nuclear materials.

Effect of doping Ti on the vacancy trapping mechanism for helium in ZrCo from first principles.

The interactions of dopants with point defects such as that between vacancies and helium can affect helium evolution and ultimately the macroscopic properties of materials. Herein, the microscopic vacancy trapping mechanism for He defects and the formation of small HemVacn (consisting of m He atoms and n vacancies) clusters in pure and Ti-doped ZrCo systems are investigated by carrying out an extensive set of first-principles calculations based on density functional theory. Our results uncover the following: the helium atom can segregate from the adjacent interstitial (tetrahedral and octahedral) sites towards the vacancy center spontaneously, and therefore, a single He atom is energetically favorable to occupy a vacancy whether in the pure or in the doped system. The dopant Ti can act as a trapping center for He impurities similar to a vacancy. Moreover, it can improve the trapping ability and increase the trapping radius of the vacancies for helium. As for the effect of the Ti atom on the trapping of multiple helium atoms by the vacancy, the higher barrier in the doped systems than in the pure one implies that doping inhibits the formation of large HemVac clusters. Furthermore, in order to evaluate the effect of dopant Ti on the stability of He atoms in multiple vacancies, the binding energies of a helium atom, a vacancy (Vac), and a self-interstitial atom (SIA) to a helium-vacancy cluster (HemVacn) were obtained and compared with that of the pure system. The results suggest that the cluster growth can be inhibited by the dopant Ti, and therefore, the formation of large helium bubbles is also hindered. All the binding energies do not depend much on the cluster size but primarily on the helium-to-vacancy ratio (m/n) of the clusters. The stability of the clusters is decided by the competitive processes among the emission of He atoms, vacancies, and SIAs, and also depends on the helium-to-vacancy ratio. The present results provide an in-depth explanation for the effect of the dopant on helium behavior and could aid future tritium storage material design.

Factors driving stable growth of He clusters in W: first-principles study

The evolution of helium (He) bubbles is responsible for the surface morphology variation and subsequent degradation of the properties of plasma-facing materials (PFMs) in nuclear fusion reactors. These severe problems unquestionably trace back to the behavior of He in PFMs, which is closely associated with the interaction between He and the matrix. In this paper, we decomposed the binding energy of the He cluster into three parts, those from W–W, W–He, and He–He interactions, using density functional theory. As a result, we clearly identified the main factors that determine a steplike decrease in the binding energy with increasing number of He atoms, which explains the process of self-trapping and athermal vacancy generation during He cluster growth in the PFM tungsten. The three interactions were found to synergetically shape the features of the steplike decrease in the binding energy. Fairly strong He–He repulsive forces at a short distance, which stem from antibonding states between He atoms, need to be released when additional He atoms are continuously bonded to the He cluster. This causes the steplike feature in the binding energy. The bonding states between W and He atoms in principle facilitate the decreasing trend of the binding energy. The decrease in binding energy with increasing number of He atoms implies that He clusters can grow stably.

Structural changes of Ti3SiC2 induced by helium irradiation with different doses

In this study, the microstructure changes of Ti3SiC2 MAX phase material induced by helium irradiation and evolution with a sequence of different helium irradiation doses of 5 × 1015, 1 × 1016, 5 × 1016 and 1 × 1017cm−2 at room temperature (RT) were characterized with grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD) and Raman spectra analysis. The irradiation damage process of Ti3SiC2 can be roughly divided into three stages according to the level of helium irradiation dose: (1) for a low damage dose, only crystal and damaged Ti3SiC2 exit; (2) at a higher irradiation dose, there is some damaged TiC phase additionally; (3) with a much higher irradiation dose, crystal TiC phase could be found inside the samples as well. Moreover, the 450 °C 5 × 1016 cm−2 helium irradiation on Ti3SiC2 has confirmed that Ti3SiC2 has much higher irradiation tolerance at higher temperature, which implies that Ti3SiC2 could be a potential future structural and fuel coating material working at high temperature environments.

Effect of bombardment with iron ions on the evolution of helium, hydrogen, and deuterium blisters in silicon

The effect of bombardment with iron ions on the evolution of gas porosity in silicon single crystals has been studied. Gas porosity has been produced by implantation hydrogen, deuterium, and helium ions with energies of 17, 12.5, and 20 keV, respectively, in identical doses of 1 × 1017 cm–2 at room temperature. For such energy of bombarding ions, the ion doping profiles have been formed at the same distance from the irradiated surface of the sample. Then, the samples have been bombarded with iron Fe10+ ions with energy of 150 keV in a dose of 5.9 × 1014 cm–2. Then 30-min isochoric annealing has been carried out with an interval of 50°C in the temperature range of 250–900°C. The samples have been analyzed using optical and electron microscopes. An extremely strong synergetic effect of sequential bombardment of silicon single crystals with gas ions and iron ions at room temperature on the nucleation and growth of gas porosity during postradiation annealing has been observed. For example, it has been shown that the amorphous layer formed in silicon by additional bombardment with iron ions stimulates the evolution of helium blisters, slightly retards the evolution of hydrogen blisters, and completely suppresses the evolution of deuterium blisters. The results of experiments do not provide an adequate explanation of the reason for this difference; additional targeted experiments are required.

Modeling growth, coalescence, and stability of helium precipitates on patterned interfaces

We develop a phase field simulation to model morphology evolution of helium (He) precipitates on solid-state interfaces. Our approach accounts for differences in precipitate contact angles arising from location-dependent interface energies and is capable of describing precipitate growth, coalescence, and de-wetting from the interface. We demonstrate our approach for interfaces with linear chains of wettable patches and find that different wetting energies and patch spacings give rise to four distinct classes of helium precipitate morphologies. Our method may be adapted to other scenarios involving fluids precipitating on non-uniform solid-state interfaces as well as to precipitation on patterned surfaces.

Helium segregation on surfaces of plasma-exposed tungsten

We report a hierarchical multi-scale modeling study of implanted helium segregation on surfaces of tungsten, considered as a plasma facing component in nuclear fusion reactors. We employ a hierarchy of atomic-scale simulations based on a reliable interatomic interaction potential, including molecular-statics simulations to understand the origin of helium surface segregation, targeted molecular-dynamics (MD) simulations of near-surface cluster reactions, and large-scale MD simulations of implanted helium evolution in plasma-exposed tungsten. We find that small, mobile Hen (1 ⩽ n ⩽ 7) clusters in the near-surface region are attracted to the surface due to an elastic interaction force that provides the thermodynamic driving force for surface segregation. This elastic interaction force induces drift fluxes of these mobile Hen clusters, which increase substantially as the migrating clusters approach the surface, facilitating helium segregation on the surface. Moreover, the clusters’ drift toward the surface enables cluster reactions, most importantly trap mutation, in the near-surface region at rates much higher than in the bulk material. These near-surface cluster dynamics have significant effects on the surface morphology, near-surface defect structures, and the amount of helium retained in the material upon plasma exposure. We integrate the findings of such atomic-scale simulations into a properly parameterized and validated spatially dependent, continuum-scale reaction-diffusion cluster dynamics model, capable of predicting implanted helium evolution, surface segregation, and its near-surface effects in tungsten. This cluster-dynamics model sets the stage for development of fully atomistically informed coarse-grained models for computationally efficient simulation predictions of helium surface segregation, as well as helium retention and surface morphological evolution, toward optimal design of plasma facing components.

Atomic origins of solid helium bubbles in tungsten

Solid helium bubbles were directly observed in the helium ion implanted tungsten (W), by different transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques at room temperature. The diameters of these solid helium bubbles range from 1 nm to 8 nm in diameter with the mean bubble size about 3 nm. The selected area electron diffraction (SAED) and fast Fourier transform (FFT) images revealed that solid helium bubbles possess body-centered cubic (bcc) structure with a lattice constant of 0.447 nm. High-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM) images further confirmed the existence of helium bubble in tungsten. The present findings provide an atomic level view of the microstructure evolution of helium in the materials, and revealed the existence of solid helium bubbles in materials.

A stochastic differential equations approach for the description of helium bubble size distributions in irradiated metals

A rate theory model based on the theory of nonlinear stochastic differential equations (SDEs) is developed to estimate the time-dependent size distribution of helium bubbles in metals under irradiation. Using approaches derived from Itô’s calculus, rate equations for the first five moments of the size distribution in helium–vacancy space are derived, accounting for the stochastic nature of the atomic processes involved. In the first iteration of the model, the distribution is represented as a bivariate Gaussian distribution. The spread of the distribution about the mean is obtained by white-noise terms in the second-order moments, driven by fluctuations in the general absorption and emission of point defects by bubbles, and fluctuations stemming from collision cascades. This statistical model for the reconstruction of the distribution by its moments is coupled to a previously developed reduced-set, mean-field, rate theory model. As an illustrative case study, the model is applied to a tungsten plasma facing component under irradiation. Our findings highlight the important role of stochastic atomic fluctuations on the evolution of helium–vacancy cluster size distributions. It is found that when the average bubble size is small (at low dpa levels), the relative spread of the distribution is large and average bubble pressures may be very large. As bubbles begin to grow in size, average bubble pressures decrease, and stochastic fluctuations have a lessened effect. The distribution becomes tighter as it evolves in time, corresponding to a more uniform bubble population. The model is formulated in a general way, capable of including point defect drift due to internal temperature and/or stress gradients. These arise during pulsed irradiation, and also during steady irradiation as a result of externally applied or internally generated non-homogeneous stress fields. Discussion is given into how the model can be extended to include full spatial resolution and how the implementation of a path-integral approach may proceed if the distribution is known experimentally to significantly stray from a Gaussian description.

Thermal evolution of helium in magnetron sputtered titanium films

Helium-containing titanium films synthesized by magnetron sputtering method were investigated using thermal desorption spectrometry (TDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Helium evolution behaviors under thermal treatment from room temperature to 1500°C were characterized. Four peaks appeared in TDS at around 100, 420, 700, and 1250°C were identified and attributed to helium desorption from the specimen surface, substitutional helium (helium atom in a vacancy), small HemVn clusters with different helium-to-vacancy ratios, and helium bubbles or voids, respectively. The helium evolution under thermal treatment composed of two coexisting and competing processes, where the faster process dominated in relevant temperature range, i.e. helium diffusion and release at low temperatures, and bubble or void formation at high temperatures. Three characteristic temperatures in TDS were identified in description of the phenomenon.

Thermal desorption of tritium and helium in aged titanium tritide films

Titanium films were deposited onto molybdenum substrates and then converted into titanium tritides (TiT1.5–1.8) films inside a tritiding apparatus loaded with pure tritium gas. Evolution of tritium and helium in the titanium tritide films over a period of four years was investigated using a thermal desorption technique, together with X-ray diffraction analysis. Results showed that desorption profiles of the tritium varied significantly with the evolution of He contents. Apart from the primary peak from tritium desorption located at a temperature between 610 and 840 K, another higher temperature tritium desorption peak (at ∼950 K) was observed, attributed to damages in the lattice structures induced by generation of 3He bubbles. Release of helium in the tritide film became significant after a long term aging process (i.e., after a few years). Depending on the amount of the 3He bubbles generated due to the decay of tritium, spectra of the thermal helium desorption showed five peaks in the range from room temperature to ∼1750 K, corresponding to different states of helium evolution during aging of the titanium tritide films. The amounts of helium desorption in different stages were estimated, and the dissociation energy of helium from different trap states as a function of the aging duration was obtained.