Effects of low energy helium plasma irradiation on potassium doped tungsten

Effects of helium plasma irradiation on spark plasma sintering (SPS) W-K, pure W and traditionally sintered commercial W-K have been studied, concerning the density, grain size and potassium content as the influence factors. Pinholes are formed under 120 eV He ions at 600 °C and 1 × 1023 m−2 fluence on the surface of all samples. It is found that SPS-sintered W-K shows the best irradiation resistance among the present samples, and SPS-sintered pure W exhibits higher irradiation tolerance than commercial W-K. Different He-plasma tolerance was observed among the SPS-sintered W-K samples due to varied potassium content and grain size. In addition, the microstructure evolution under helium irradiation, the growth-migration of helium bubbles and their interactions of potassium bubbles have also been discussed.