Effects of temperature on surface modification of W exposed to He particles

• Blisters were observed on W surface under He beam heating at ∼950 °C.
• He-induced blistering shows a clear grain orientation dependence.
• An evolution to a coral-like structure was observed under loading at ∼2700 °C.
• A texture with 〈0 0 1〉 parallel to the surface normal direction will be beneficial.

The effect of combined heating and helium particle flux on annealed tungsten samples has been studied in the neutral beam facility GLADIS. He beams with power densities of 2.4 MW/m2 and 9.5 MW/m2 were used to adiabatically load the samples to peak surface temperatures from ∼950 °C (1223 K) to ∼2700 °C (2973 K). Changes in the surface morphology resulting from combined heat and the flux exposure were studied for He fluences up to 3 × 1022/m2. Typical structures for the sample loaded at ∼950 °C (1223 K) were blisters with a clear grain orientation dependence and the largest blisters formed on grains with 〈0 0 1〉 surface normal. However at higher temperatures, blistering was more easily suppressed for grains near this orientation because the growth of larger blister takes place more slowly. An evolution from a “porous structure” to a “coral-like structure” with increasing fluence was observed on the samples loaded at the highest temperature. Based on these results mechanisms for surface modification at different temperatures are discussed and a texture with 〈0 0 1〉 parallel to the normal direction of the grains is suggested to optimize the plasma facing material due to their stronger resistance to early stage blistering.