Browsing by Author "Riley, RP"

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    Influence of plasma impurities on the effective performance of fusion relevant materials
    (Australian Institute of Physics, 2014-02-04) Riley, RP; Guenette, MC; Deslandes, A; Middleburgh, SC; Lumpkin, GR; Thomsen, L; Corr, CS
    The development of a sustainable source of power derived from fusion energy is presently constrained by the limited number of materials capable of operating under such extreme conditions. Plasma facing components within magnetically confined fusion reactors must withstand extremes of temperature and loads, while maintaining a high tolerance to radiation damage from energetic particles or neutrons. More specifically, factors of sputtering yield, thermal conduction, electrical conduction and retention of fuel can all degrade the performance of the reactor and hence detrimentally lower the efficiency. In aiming to improve our understanding of materials capable of operating within the fusion environment, it is essential to establish how present generation materials become degraded. Use of ion beam accelerators and linear plasma devices simulate the respective impact of energetic neutron damage (14.1 MeV) and plasma erosion (H+, D+, He+) within a magnetically confined fusion environment. Methods of characterising changes in the local structure and chemistry of surface and near surface regions of fusion relevant materials quantify material degradation resulting from the uptake of plasma impurities. While complementary density functional theory (DFT) simulations have identified possible mechanisms for degradation of material performance. An overview of material evaluation methods will also be presented.