Helium bubble distributions in a nanostructured ferritic alloy

A 14YWT nanostructured ferritic alloy (NFA) was implanted with He ⁺ ions to fluences of 6.75 × 10²¹ He m^-2 at 400 °C in order to simulate the effects of high He concentrations produced in advanced fission and future fusion reactors at an accelerated timescale. The He bubble size distributions associated with specific microstructural features were characterized by a combination of transmission electron microscopy and atom probe tomography. Helium bubbles were observed on grain boundaries, dislocations, and on the surfaces of nanoclusters and larger Ti(N,C) precipitates. A polydisperse distribution of bubble sizes was observed in the ferrite matrix. With the exception of He bubbles on dislocations, bubbles were observed to increase in size with increasing fluence. The combined TEM and APT data indicates that ∼4.4% of the bubbles are located on coarse precipitates, ∼12.2% at dislocations, ∼14.4% at grain boundaries, and ∼48.6% on nanoclusters, and the remainder as isolated bubbles in the ferrite matrix. The abundances of these different trapping sites, especially the nanoclusters, might reduce the availability and mobility of He, and possibly the susceptibility of these alloys to He embrittlement.