Аннотация:Reduced-activation ferritic-martensitic steels (RAFMS) are considered not only as structural but
also, under certain conditions, as plasma-facing materials for fusion installations. The base material of RAFMS is iron. These steels also contain 8–12 wt % Cr and 1–2 wt % W. In a certain energy range during ion irradiation of RAFMS, there are conditions under which iron and chromium are sputtered, but tungsten is not. This phenomenon is called selective sputtering. In this work, for the first time, the selective sputtering
of the domestic RAFMS EK-181 (Rusfer) under irradiation with deuterium plasma with an ion energy of 100 eV has been studied in detail. The sputtering coefficient was determined from the weight loss of the samples.
In the course of sputtering, outgrowths are formed on the surface, the height of which increases with increasing irradiation dose and reaches several hundred nanometers. Data were obtained on sputtering and relief formation at a sample temperature of 440 K in the irradiation dose range of 3 × 1024–7 × 1025 ion/m2, as well as in the temperature range of 350–700 K at a fixed irradiation dose of 3 × 1024 ion/m2. The distribution of elements over the surface and in the cross section of the sample obtained by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) indicates a significant enrichment of the surface in tungsten, especially pronounced in the protruding parts of the surface. Studies of the elemental composition by Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS) also showed an increase in the concentration of tungsten in the surface layer with an increase in the radiation dose. At the maximum irradiation dose, the concentration of tungsten on the surface, averaged over the area of the analyzing beam of 1.7 mm2, increased by about 10 times and reached 4.5 at %.