Morphologies of tungsten nanotendrils grown under helium exposure.

Nanotendril "fuzz" will grow under He bombardment under tokamak-relevant conditions on tungsten plasma-facing materials in a magnetic fusion energy device. We have grown tungsten nanotendrils at low (50 eV) and high (12 keV) He bombardment energy, in the range 900-1000 °C, and characterized them using electron microscopy. Low energy tendrils are finer (~22 nm diameter) than high-energy tendrils (~176 nm diameter), and low-energy tendrils have a smoother surface than high-energy tendrils. Cavities were omnipresent and typically ~5-10 nm in size. Oxygen was present at tendril surfaces, but tendrils were all BCC tungsten metal. Electron diffraction measured tendril growth axes and grain boundary angle/axis pairs; no preferential growth axes or angle/axis pairs were observed, and low-energy fuzz grain boundaries tended to be high angle; high energy tendril grain boundaries were not observed. We speculate that the strong tendency to high-angle grain boundaries in the low-energy tendrils implies that as the tendrils twist or bend, strain must accumulate until nucleation of a grain boundary is favorable compared to further lattice rotation. The high-energy tendrils consisted of very large (>100 nm) grains compared to the tendril size, so the nature of the high energy irradiation must enable faster growth with less lattice rotation.

A large-acceptance beam-deceleration module for retrofitting into ion-source beam lines.

We describe a large-acceptance deceleration module capable of decelerating large-emittance full-intensity ion beams typical of ECR ion sources to very low energies with high efficiency. The deceleration module is designed to permit convenient retrofitting into an existing beam line to replace, e.g., the first Faraday cup after magnetic analysis of the beam extracted from the ion source. For starting energies of 10 keV, and incident ion currents as large as 300 µA, deceleration efficiencies have been measured to be greater than 80% for final energies as low as 70 eV. The decelerated beam intensity can be monitored either by insertion of a beam catcher floating at the final deceleration voltage or from the current to the exit grid itself, with suitable correction applied for the grid transparency factor. The behavior of the deceleration optics was modeled using SIMION, incorporating the effects of intra-beam space charge repulsion. We describe a recent application of this deceleration module to study near-surface He bubble and blister formation of a W target heated to 1250 K and irradiated with a 98 eV He ion beam with a flux of ∼10(16) cm(-2) s(-1).

Plasma potential and energy spread determination using ion beams extracted from an electron cyclotron resonance source.

We have obtained estimates of plasma potentials and energy spreads characterizing an electron cyclotron resonance ion source plasma under different source conditions. Our estimates are obtained from analysis of ion beams extracted from the ion source at 10 kV that are subsequently decelerated into a floating surface scattering chamber where their current intensity incident on a solid sample is measured as function of retardation voltage. The deceleration occurs outside the measurement chamber, permitting beam current measurements in a field-free region. Absence of grids in the deceleration section avoids potential issues of field penetration. The behavior of our deceleration optics was modeled with SIMION. The simulation indicated a linear beam attenuation dependence close to full retardation where the beam current goes to zero. Deviations from this linear dependence observed close to zero beam energy give information on the initial energy spread of the ions extracted from the source. Our decelerated beams measurements are compared with recent in situ probe results and external beams results based on magnetic analysis.

Deduction of edge electron density with multiply charged ions in ORNL volume-type electron cyclotron resonance ion source.

The electron densities in the argon plasmas of the ORNL 6 GHz electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion source with a flat central magnetic field have been deduced from the ion branches of the electric probe current-voltage curves measured in the edge region of the plasmas. To overcome the difficulties due to unknown velocities of multiply charged ions at the sheath edge, a modified generalized Bohm criterion for the ion sheath velocity is introduced and the mean velocity of all ionic charge states at the sheath edge is assumed to be equal to the sound velocity of the system of particles. The calculated electron densities and temperatures for different plasmas optimized for four charge state distributions are discussed.

Path-dependent neutralization of multiply charged Ar ions incident on Au(110).

Using a time-of-flight technique we have investigated the backscattering of 5 keV Ar(2+) and Ar(11+) projectiles from Au(110). A strong dependence on target azimuth is found for the neutral flux resulting from (quasi)binary projectile collisions with target atoms, while for the charged components only a weak dependence is seen. A deconvolution of the observed dependences based on trajectory simulations clearly shows site-specific neutralization differences between the various possible binary collisions occurring with surface atoms. Such differences must be properly accounted for in order to permit meaningful comparison with theory.

Wound healing following curettement of bifurcation abscesses of human primary molars.

Forty-five abscessed human mandibular primary molars with bifurcation radiolucency were subjected to a two-stage formocresol treatment of the pulp chamber. On the first appointment, an elliptical patch of buccal mucosa was removed. Bony defects varied from 2 mm. to more than 4 mm. in diameter. Periapical radiographs were used to record changes in bone development. Punch biopsy specimens were taken from the bifurcation area of some subjects from 2 weeks up to a year after surgical curettement. Biopsied tissue was studied by electron and light microscopy to examine wound healing of the bifurcation, revealing an early proliferation of fibroblasts with extracellular collagen fibers. Some of the fibroblasts exhibited an extensive network of rough endoplasmic reticulum, scattered free ribosomes, mitochondria, and other organelles which are normally observed in healthy fibroblasts. Histologic and clinical evaluation support the treatment tested for retention of previously abscessed primary molars.