XPS, SIMS and FTIR-ATR characterization of boronized graphite from the thermonuclear plasma device RFX-mod

The boron layers on the only coated samples were found to be amorphous hydrogenated boron carbide plus a variety of bonds like B-B, B-H, B-O, B-OH, C-C, C-H, C-O, C-OH. Both the thickness and the homogeneity of the layers were found to depend on the distance of the sample from the anode during the deposition. The samples contained oxygen along the layer thickness, at level of 5%, bound to boron. The gettering action of the boron is therefore already active during the deposition itself. The exposure to plasma caused erosion of the boron film and higher content of H and O bound to boron throughout the whole thickness. The interaction of the B layer with plasma is therefore a bulk phenomenon.