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Title: The thermodynamic and kinetic interactions of He interstitial clusters with bubbles in W

Journal Article · · Journal of Applied Physics
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4951706· OSTI ID:22596709
; ;  [1];  [2]
  1. Theoretical Division T-1, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545 (United States)
  2. Materials Science and Technology MST-8, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545 (United States)

Due to its enviable properties, tungsten is a leading candidate plasma facing material in nuclear fusion reactors. However, like many other metals, tungsten is known to be affected by the high doses of helium atoms incoming from the plasma. Indeed, the implanted interstitial helium atoms cluster together and, upon reaching a critical cluster size, convert into substitutional nanoscale He bubbles. These bubbles then grow by absorbing further interstitial clusters from the matrix. This process can lead to deleterious changes in microstructure, degradation of mechanical properties, and contamination of the plasma. In order to better understand the growth process, we use traditional and accelerated molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the interactions between interstitial He clusters and pre-existing bubbles. These interactions are characterized in terms of thermodynamics and kinetics. We show that the proximity of the bubble leads to an enhancement of the trap mutation rate and, consequently, to the nucleation of satellite bubbles in the neighborhood of existing ones. We also uncover a number of mechanisms that can lead to the subsequent annihilation of such satellite nanobubbles.

OSTI ID:
22596709
Journal Information:
Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 119, Issue 20; Other Information: (c) 2016 Author(s); Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (6)

Helium in-plane migration behavior on 〈1 0 0〉 symmetric tilt grain boundaries in tungsten journal July 2018
Effect of W self-implantation and He plasma exposure on early-stage defect and bubble formation in tungsten journal April 2018
Helium flux effects on bubble growth and surface morphology in plasma-facing tungsten from large-scale molecular dynamics simulations journal May 2019
An Overview of Recent Standard and Accelerated Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Helium Behavior in Tungsten journal August 2019
The mobility of small vacancy/helium complexes in tungsten and its impact on retention in fusion-relevant conditions journal May 2017
Theoretical Model of Helium Bubble Growth and Density in Plasma-Facing Metals journal February 2020