Surface modification and sputtering erosion of reduced activation ferritic martensitic steel F82H exposed to low-energy, high flux deuterium plasma

Highlights: • Exposure of F82H steel targets with low-energy D plasma leads to formation of micro-structured layers on the target surfaces. • The surface morphology of the targets depends strongly on the exposure temperature. • The erosion yield of the F82H steel is increased by a factor of about two as the exposure temperature rises from 403 to 773 K. - Abstract: Targets prepared from Reduced Activation Ferritic Martensitic (RAFM) steel F82H were exposed to low-energy (200 eV) deuterium (D) plasma at various temperatures with highfluxes of about 10²² D/m²s to various fluences in the range from 10²⁵ to 2.5 × 10²⁶ D/m². Under the plasma exposure, micro-structured layers are formed on the target surfaces, and the surface morphology is dependent on the exposure temperature. The erosion yield of the F82H samples increases by a factor of about two as the exposure temperature rises in the range from 403 to 773 K.