Comparing deuterium retention in tungsten films measured by temperature programmed desorption and nuclear reaction analysis

Tungsten (W) films with thicknesses ranging between 1 and 12 μm deposited by magnetron sputtering on silicon substrates were used as a model system for comparing the deuterium (D) retention measured by both temperature programmed desorption (TPD) and nuclear reaction analysis (NRA). Samples were loaded with deuterium ex-situ with an ECR plasma at 370 and 600 K with an energy of 38 eV per deuteron. To avoid diffusion of D into the silicon substrate and to increase adhesion a copper interlayer was applied. The results show that all implanted D atoms were retained exclusively in the W films. The distribution of D is homogenous throughout the W layer with an atomic fraction of 3 ± 0.4 × 10−3. With increasing W thickness the D profile extends to correspondingly larger depths with practically identical D concentration. For W films with a thickness lower than the NRA information depth of about 8 μm the total retained D amount measured by TPD and NRA is in excellent agreement. As expected, for films thicker than the NRA information depth, TPD deviates from NRA.