Synergistic effects on dislocation loops in reduced-activation martensitic steel investigated by single and sequential hydrogen/helium ion irradiation

Single-beam and sequential-beam irradiations were performed to investigate the H/He synergistic effect on dislocation loops in reduced-activation ferritic/martensitic (RAFM) steels. The irradiations were carried out with 10 keV H+, 18 keV He+ and 160 keV Ar+, alone and in combination at 723 K. He+ single-beam irradiation induced much larger dislocation loops than that induced by both H+ and Ar+ single-beam irradiation. H+ post-irradiation after He+ irradiation further increased the size of dislocation loops, whilst He+ post-irradiation or Ar+ post-irradiation following H+ irradiation only slightly increased the size of dislocation loops. The experiment results indicate that pre-implanted H+ can drastically inhibit the growth while post-implanted H+ can significantly enhance the growth of dislocation loops induced by He+ irradiation. The mechanisms behind the complex synergistic phenomena between H and He and the different roles that H and He played in the growth of dislocation loops are discussed.