Surface Morphology and Sputtering of FeCrAl Coating on Steel Exposed to Low-Energy Deuterium Plasmas

Processes of sputtering and surface modification of FeCrAl coatings deposited on steel by vacuum arc was studied under the influence of low-energy (500 eV) deuterium plasma with fluence (4⋅1024) D+/m2 at room temperature. It was determined the composition of coatings by an energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer allowed to establish that the elements in the coatings are distributed more evenly when it coated in a nitrogen atmosphere. Results of erosion studies indicated that the sputtering yields for deuterium on coatings are 1.3…0.45 at./ion and at least two-three times less in comparison with initial alloys and published data for pure iron and chromium. For coatings deposited in a nitrogen atmosphere found that the obtained sputtering coefficients are almost an order of magnitude smaller in comparison with published data for pure iron and chromium and only 1.8 times higher compared to tungsten. (author)