Plasma Influence on Tungsten Powder

Modifications of tungsten powder comprised of micro particles with dimensions: 1 ± 0.2 μm and 5 ± 1.5 μm (“small” and «large” particles) under the influence of heating, electric field and hydrogen- and argon ion irradiation are investigated in this work. The processes in irradiated powder are described and discussed. Among them there are powder outgassing, particle emission from the powder surface in the electric field, pasting of small particles all over the large ones, integration of the adhered small particles and formation of the uniform layer around the groups of large particles, cone growth on uniform layers, formation of volumetric chains of sticking together tungsten particles and their transformations. Driving forces and processes providing different types of powder modifications and the role of each of them in the specific phenomena are discussed.