Development of bubble microstructure in ErT2 films during aging
- New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
- Sandia National Laboratories (SNL)
Helium bubbles form in metal tritide films as tritium decays into 3He, influencing mechanical properties and long-term film stability. The bubble nucleation and growth mechanisms comprise an active research area, but there has been only one previous systematic experimental study of helium bubble growth in metal tritides, on zirconium tritides. There have been no such studies on tritides such as ErT2 that form plate-like bubbles and lack a secondary bubble population on a network of line dislocations, and yet such a study is needed to inform the modeling of helium-bubble microstructure development in a broader range of metal tritides. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) has been used to study the growth and evolution of helium bubbles in ErT2 films over a four-year period. The results have been used to test the present models of helium bubble nucleation and growth in metal tritides, particularly those forming plate-like bubbles. The results support the models of Trinkaus and Cowgill. The observations of non-uniform bubble thicknesses and the pattern of grain-boundary bubble formation, however, indicate that these models could be strengthened by closer attention to details of interfacial energy. It is strongly recommended that efforts be made (either experimentally or by calculation) to determine anisotropy of tritide/helium interfacial energy, both for clean, stoichiometric interfaces, and also allowing for such factors as non-stoichiometry and segregation.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC)
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC05-00OR22725
- OSTI ID:
- 978280
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 107, Issue 8; ISSN 0021-8979
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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