Investigation of the combined effect of neutron irradiation and electron beam exposure on pure tungsten

Pure tungsten samples were neutron irradiated in the BR2 reactor of SCK·CEN to fluences of 1.47 × 1020 n/cm2 and 4.74 × 1020 n/cm2 at 300 °C under Helium atmosphere and exposed to the electron beam of the Judith 1 installation The effect of these treatments on the defect structure was studied with transmission electron microscopy. In the irradiated samples the defect structure in the bulk is compared to the structure at the surface. The neutron irradiation created a large amount of a/2‹111› type dislocation loops forming dislocation rafts. The loop density increased from 8.5 × 1021/m³ to 9 × 1022/m³ with increasing dose, while the loop size decreased from 5.2 nm to 3.5 nm. The electron beam exposure induced significant annealing of the defects and almost all of the dislocation loops were removed. The number of line dislocations in that area increased as a result of the thermal stresses from the thermal shock.