Suppression of hydrogen-induced blistering of tungsten by pre-irradiation at low temperature

Blistering of tungsten (W) surfaces due to deuterium (D) implantation was investigated by a sequence of exposures at two different temperatures—230 and 450 K—and by the reversed sequence. A single exposure at 230 K leads to a high areal density of small dome-shaped blisters (up to 3 µm in diameter) together with much smaller flat-topped structures, while a single 450-K exposure produces large dome-shaped blisters up to 40 µm in diameter without the flat-topped structures. Most of the small dome-shaped blisters from 230 K exposure disappeared after annealing at 450 K for 17 h, but survived and even grew in size if the surface was exposed to D plasma during annealing. Sequential exposure at the two temperatures reveals a non-commutative behaviour: after a first exposure at 450 K the second exposure at 230 K leads to superposition of the observed blister structures without changing the large blisters from the first exposure. By contrast, a first exposure at 230 K almost completely suppresses the formation of large blisters during a second exposure at 450 K. Obviously, the presence of the small blisters strongly influences the penetration of D into the W bulk.