Deuterium blistering in tungsten and tungsten vanadium alloys

In order to evaluate D blistering behavior in W based plasma facing materials, rolled W and different grades of W-V targets were exposed to high flux of 1.2 × 1024 m−2 s−1, low energy (38 eV) D plasma at two different surface temperatures. The blistering behavior was investigated by means of scanning electron microscopy, accompanied by electron back-scattering diffraction. Highest numbers of blisters were observed on the surface of rolled tungsten. The addition of V precursor to W suppressed D blister formation. In the case of W-V alloys, comparatively submicron V-containing materials have shown high tendency but small size blisters formation than micron V-containing samples. A high density of blisters was observed near the (111) plane on the surface of both V-containing alloys. Nano-sized blisters were also observed on V enriched surface.