Plasma exposure behavior of re-deposited tungsten on structural materials of fusion reactors

Abstract To evaluate the effects of re-deposited tungsten (W) on the surface modification and hydrogen isotope retention behavior of fusion structural materials, the plasma exposure behavior of re-deposited W samples prepared by magnetron sputtering on the F82H steel, the V-5Cr-5Ti alloy as well as bare substrate samples was investigated. All the samples were exposed to 367 shots of deuterium plasmas in the 2015 spring EAST campaign. After the plasma exposure, large area of W layer was exfoliated, while big blisters were found at the interface between the remaining W layer and the substrate materials. The deuterium retention behavior of the samples with re-deposited W layer was characterized by thermal desorption spectroscopy and compared with the bare substrate samples.