In-situ TEM observation of the evolution of helium bubbles in Mo during He+ irradiation and post-irradiation annealing*

Abstract

The evolution of helium bubbles in purity Mo was investigated by in-situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) during 30 keV He+ irradiation (at 673 K and 1173 K) and post-irradiation annealing (after 30 keV He+ irradiation with the fluence of 5.74 × 1016 He+/cm2 at 673 K). Both He+ irradiation and subsequently annealing induced the initiation, aggregation, and growth of helium bubbles. Temperature had a significant effect on the initiation and evolution of helium bubbles. The higher the irradiation temperature was, the larger the bubble size at the same irradiation fluence would be. At 1173 K irradiation, helium bubbles nucleated and grew preferentially at grain boundaries and showed super large size, which would induce the formation of microcracks. At the same time, the geometry of helium bubbles changed from sphericity to polyhedron. The polyhedral bubbles preferred to grow in the shape bounded by {100} planes. After statistical analysis of the characteristic parameters of helium bubbles, the functions between the average size, number density of helium bubbles, swelling rate and irradiation damage were obtained. Meanwhile, an empirical formula for calculating the size of helium bubbles during the annealing was also provided.