Low energy hydrogen and deuterium sputtering measurements of stainless steel, graphite, and beryllium oxide

Abstract The total erosion yields of 304 stainless steel by low energy hydrogen and deuterium have been determined by 4 He ion backscattering spectroscopy at energies ranging from 0.33 to 9.0 keV. This experimental method determines the number of atoms removed by sputtering by measuring the change in depth of implanted Xe marker atoms. Data for 304 stainless steel are compared with the extensive published data obtained using the weight loss technique. The Xe marker method is used to make the first measurements of deuterium erosion on polycrystalline graphite. Deuterium erosion measurements of thermally-prepared oxide layers on Be were also made using 4 He backscattering spectroscopy to determine directly the number of removed atoms. These new data for the sputtering yields of deuterium on carbon and BeO range from 0.016 to 0.052 atoms/ ion. A previously proposed semi-empirical curve derived from theory and fitted to existing physical sputtering data fits the stainless steel data quite well, but much of the existing carbon sputtering data using hydrogen and all of the results obtained here are substantially greater than predicted using the semi-empirical theory.