Thermal treatment of W large-scale fiberform nanostructures

Abstract

Recent experiments have revealed that accelerated tungsten (W) nanostructure growth occurs during the exposure to helium (He) plasmas with an additional W deposition, and mm-thick large-scale fiberform nanostructures (LFNs) are formed when certain condition is satisfied. In order to reveal whether accelerated growth occurs in fusion device, it is important to understand the annealing process in addition to the growth process. In this study, we will perform thermal treatment of W LFNs. Comparing to the conventional fuzz, detailed observation reveals that the LFNs shrink at a faster rate, though it takes longer time to fully be reintegrated to the surface because the size or thickness is orders of magnitude greater.