Sputtering and chemical attack of 304 stainless steel, aluminum, and gold by hydrogen ions of 100 eV energy

Samples of polished and oxidized 304 stainless steel, aluminum, and gold have been subjected to bombardment by hydrogen ions in order to simulate effects expected in tokamak fusion devices. This paper reports on the sputtering and chemical effects of bombardment with 100 and 200 eV ions to fluence levels of 2x1021 ions/cm2 and 4x1021 ions/cm2, respectively. Under these conditions gold is badly blistered and eroded, aluminum is slightly blistered at 100 eV and substantially eroded at 200 eV but few changes are seen in the case of polished stainless steel. The oxide film (produced by a 1/2 h exposure to air at 5000C) on the polished sample was, however, removed and only a very thin layer of substoichiometric oxide remained on the surface after exposure to either 100 or 200 eV hydrogen plasmas. Sample temperatures during bombardment were about 500C for the 100 eV ions and 650C for the 200 eV ions. (Auth/)