Document VersionPublisher's PDF, also known as Version of Record (includes final page, issue and volume numbers)Please check the document version of this publication:• A submitted manuscript is the author's version of the article upon submission and before peer-review. There can be important differences between the submitted version and the official published version of record. People interested in the research are advised to contact the author for the final version of the publication, or visit the DOI to the publisher's website.• The final author version and the galley proof are versions of the publication after peer review.• The final published version features the final layout of the paper including the volume, issue and page numbers. Link to publication General rightsCopyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.• Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research.• You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policyIf you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. The formation of metallic nanostructures by exposure of molybdenum and tungsten surfaces to high fluxes of low energy helium ions is studied as a function of the ion energy, plasma exposure time, and surface temperature. Helium plasma exposure leads to the formation of nanoscopic filaments on the surface of both metals. The size of the helium-induced nanostructure increases with increasing surface temperature while the thickness of the modified layer increases with time.In addition, the growth rate of the nanostructured layer also depends on the surface temperature. The size of the nanostructure appears linked with the size of the near-surface voids induced by the low energy ions. The results presented here thus demonstrate that surface processing by low-energy helium ions provides an efficient route for the formation of porous metallic nanostructures.

Experiments were performed in the Pilot-PSI linear plasma device to study the formation of helium-induced nanostructures under high heat fluxes (>10MW.m-2), the erosion of a tungsten surface at the elevated temperatures where those structures typically form and most importantly the behaviour of a helium-induced fibreform structure during ELM-like pulses. A strong correlation between the characteristic size of the helium-induced morphology and the size of the voids observed in the near-surface region has been found, and both increase in size with increasing temperatures. Temperature-dependent erosion of tungsten surfaces was observed despite the ion energy being below the sputtering threshold, with an exponential increase of the erosion for temperatures higher than 2400 o C. The same effect was observed during ELM-like plasma pulses. Finally, a complete disappearance of the tungsten fibreform structure was observed after only one plasma pulse for energy densities higher than 0.5MJ.m-2 .

No abstract

This work discusses the response of ultrafine-grained tungsten materials to high-flux, high-fluence, low energy pure He irradiation. Ultrafine-grained tungsten samples were exposed in the Pilot-PSI (Westerhout et al 2007 Phys. Scr. T128 18) linear plasma device at the Dutch Institute for Fundamental Energy Research (DIFFER) in Nieuwegein, the Netherlands. The He flux on the tungsten samples ranged from 1.0 × 1023–2.0 × 1024 ions m−2 s−1, the sample bias ranged from a negative (20–65) V, and the sample temperatures ranged from 600–1500 °C. SEM analysis of the exposed samples clearly shows that ultrafine-grained tungsten materials have a greater fluence threshold to the formation of fuzz by an order or magnitude or more, supporting the conjecture that grain boundaries play a major role in the mechanisms of radiation damage. Pre-fuzz damage analysis is addressed, as in the role of grain orientation on structure formation. Grains of (1 1 0) and (1 1 1) orientation showed only pore formation, while (0 0 1) oriented grains showed ripples (higher structures) decorated with pores. Blistering at the grain boundaries is also observed in this case. In situ TEM analysis during irradiation revealed facetted bubble formation at the grain boundaries likely responsible for blistering at this location. The results could have significant implications for future plasma-burning fusion devices given the He-induced damage could lead to macroscopic dust emission into the fusion plasma.

The first combined experimental and theoretical studies of dust remobilization by plasma forces are reported. The main theoretical aspects of remobilization in fusion devices under steady state conditions are analyzed. In particular, the dominant role of adhesive forces is highlighted and generic remobilization conditions -direct lift-up, sliding, rolling -are formulated. A novel experimental technique is proposed, based on controlled adhesion of dust grains on tungsten samples combined with detailed mapping of the dust deposition profile prior and post plasma exposure. Proof-ofprinciple experiments in the TEXTOR tokamak and the EXTRAP-T2R reversed-field pinch are presented. The versatile environment of the linear device Pilot-PSI allowed for experiments with different magnetic field topologies and varying plasma conditions that were complemented with camera observations.