Tritium permeation in stainless-steel structures exposed to plasma ions

This paper presents a comparison of the hydrogen permeation properties of the austenitic primary candidate alloy, PCA, and of the advanced ferritic alloy, HT-9. The comparison is based on experimental measurements of the permeation and reemission of deuterium from specimens undergoing implantation with 3-keV, D/sub 3//sup +/ ions produced by an accelerator. Characterization of the specimen surface facing the ion beam is provided by secondary ion mass spectrometer (SIMS) analysis of the species sputtered from the surface during the implantation. Recombination and diffusivity data for PCA and HT-9 were derived from an analysis in which model calculations were applied to the reemission and permeation measurements.