Proof-of-Concept Modeling for the Use of Neutron Reflectometry for the In Situ Diagnosis of Deuterium Accumulation in Tungsten and Dispersion-Strengthened Tungsten Alloys

Abstract

The diagnosis of plasma-facing components in a fusion environment is challenging due to the limited number of measurement techniques that have been developed for in situ surface analysis. In this work, we assess the feasibility of using neutron reflectometry (NR) for the in situ diagnosis of deuterium accumulation in tungsten and dispersion-strengthened tungsten alloys. TRIM is used to simulate deuterium implantation at different energies to approximate the deuterium depth profiles in these materials in order to calculate the expected measurements from NR for various fluences. Our results suggest that NR should be an effective technique for testing hypotheses about the surface composition of materials under fusion-relevant fluences of deuterium irradiation.

Keywords:

• Neutron reflectometry
• plasma-facing components
• dispersion-strengthened tungsten alloys
• in situ diagnostics

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Fusion Energy Sciences, under award DE-SC0020093. This material is also based on work supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program under grant no. DGE1255832. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.