Effects of carbon readsorption on tungsten under high-flux, low-energy Ar ion irradiation at elevated temperature

The erosion kinetics under irradiation by Ar ions extracted from plasma by 300 V negative bias voltage of 2 μm-thick W film contaminated by redeposited carbon atoms was investigated in dependence on the Ar-working gas pressure in the range 0.2–10 Pa at 410 K. The erosion and deposition parameters were deduced from the dependence of the sample's weight change on irradiation time. Two regimes were distinguished which contributed differently to the carbon transport efficiency from the surface towards the bulk, namely, the weight-decrease regime, when sputtering prevailed redeposition, and the weight-increase regime, when redeposition prevailed sputtering. Carbon distribution profiles measured by the SIMS technique showed that carbon was efficiently transported into the W film when its surface was not covered by a continuous amorphous C layer. The C transport efficiency decreased when W was covered by a continuous amorphous C film.These results were qualitatively explained by dynamic mixing of atoms on the surface. It was assumed that surface chemical potential increased under irradiation and that C adatoms were driven into grain boundaries of nanocrystalline W film. The continuous amorphous C film on tungsten blocked the access of activated C atoms to the grain boundaries.