The response of ZrB2 to simulated plasma-facing material conditions of He irradiation at high temperature

Abstract Zirconium diboride (ZrB 2 ) has many potentially beneficial properties for fusion plasma-facing component application, but almost no data exist on the response of ZrB 2 to ion irradiation. In this work, ZrB 2 samples were irradiated with 30 keV He + to fluences of 8.4 × 10 21 and 5.0 × 10 22 He/m 2 at temperatures of 920, 1020, and 1120 K in the Materials Irradiation Experiment (MITE-E) at the University of Wisconsin Inertial Electrostatic Confinement (UW-IEC) Laboratory to simulate some of the conditions of plasma-facing components in fusion reactors. The samples irradiated to the higher fluence developed surface morphology changes in the ion irradiated zone including rough, porous, and ripple structures. The ZrB 2 had similar mass loss as W irradiated to similar conditions. Additionally, the ZrB 2 samples did not exhibit flaking as did the SiC samples previously irradiated to similar conditions. This first look at ZrB 2 behavior under ion irradiation is promising and justifies further testing of this emerging ultra-high temperature ceramic material for fusion applications.