Spectroscopic study of energetic helium-ion irradiation effects on nuclear graphite tiles

Abstract

Helium ion-irradiation effects on the nuclear graphite tiles were studied in order to understand the structural modifications and damages that can be produced by fusion reaction in tokamaks. The surface morphological changes due to increasing dose of the irradiation were examined by the field-effect scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy elucidated the changes in the shallow surface bonding configurations caused by the energetic irradiation. Raman spectroscopy revealed the structural defects and diamond-like carbon sites that increased with increasing irradiation dose, and the average inter-defect distance was found from the Raman peak intensities as a function of the irradiation dose. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.