Trapping of hydrogen and helium at an {110}<111> edge dislocation in tungsten

We have performed an atomistic simulation to investigate energetics and dynamic behaviour of hydrogen (H) and helium (He) at an {110}<111> edge dislocation in tungsten (W). The edge dislocation is shown to attract H/He at the tensile stress region according to the negative interaction energy of H/He at the tensile stress region, which implies that the dislocation is energetically beneficial to accommodate both H and He. Dynamically both H and He are easy to diffuse into the dislocation core, indicating the 'down-hill' diffusion due to the presence of the dislocation serving as a trapping center for both H and He. Further, He exhibits much lower interaction energy and much faster diffusion into the dislocation core region as compared with H owing to the close shell electronic structure of He. The results suggest the edge dislocation as a trapping center facilitates the H/He accumulation, contributing to the understanding the role of the dislocation on the H/He accumulation and bubble formation in W.