Hydrogen trapping in and release from tungsten: Modeling and comparison with graphite with regard to its use as fusion reactor material

Trapping and release of deuterium implanted in tungsten is investigated by modeling the results of reemission, thermal and isothermal desorption experiments. Rate coefficients and activation energies for diffusion, trapping and detrapping are derived. Hydrogen atoms are able to diffuse deep into tungsten, establishing a solute amount of the same order of magnitude as the trapped one. This 'diffusion zone' exceeds the implantation zone by more than two orders of magnitude, even at room temperature. The solute amount of hydrogen in tungsten depends only slightly on the incident ion energy, but scales with implantation fluence. This high amount of solute hydrogen is the main difference of tungsten compared to graphite where nearly all hydrogen is trapped in the implantation zone, the solute amount being orders of magnitude lower. The resulting unlimited accumulation of hydrogen in tungsten deep in the material down to the backward surface disadvantages tungsten as fusion reactor material with regard to hydrogen recycling properties.