The high-flux effect on deuterium retention in TiC and TaC doped tungsten at high temperatures

Samples made of tungsten (W) doped either with titanium carbide (W-1.1TiC) or tantalum carbide (W-3.3TaC) were exposed to a low-energy (40 eV/D), high-flux (1.8–5 × 10²³ D/m²s) deuterium (D) plasma at temperatures of about800 K, 1050 K, and 1250 K to a fluence of about1 × 10²⁷ D/m². The deuterium (D) inventory in the samples was examined by nuclear reaction analysis and thermal desorption spectroscopy. At 800 K the D bulk concentrations and total D inventories in W-1.1TiC and W-3.3TaC were more than one order of magnitude higher compared to that in pure polycrystalline W. At 1050 K and 1250 K the D concentrations in all types of samples were very low (≤10⁻⁵ at. fr.); however the D inventories in W-1.1TiC were significantly higher compared to those in W-3.3TaC and pure W. It is suggested that D trapping inside the carbide precipitates and at their boundaries is essential at high temperatures and high incident fluxes, especially in W-1.1TiC.