Study of xenon thermal migration in sintered titanium nitride using nuclear micro-probe

Micro-Rutherford backscattering spectrometry experiments were performed on a set of sintered titanium nitride samples implanted with xenon to a depth of about 150 nm. Implanted samples were annealed at 1500 °C during 5 h. Xe depth profile and its lateral distribution on the surface were measured. Surface morphology was observed using scanning electron microscopy. The results reveal that the microstructure plays an important role on xenon release. Moreover, the crystalline orientation of each grain could be a key parameter to explain the heterogeneous evolution of the surface during thermal treatments as well as Xe release from surface.