Flux threshold measurements of He-ion beam induced nanofuzz formation on hot tungsten surfaces

We report measurements of the energy dependence of flux thresholds and incubation fluences for He-ion induced nano-fuzz formation on hot tungsten surfaces at UHV conditions over a wide energy range using real-time sample imaging of tungsten target emissivity change to monitor the spatial extent of nano-fuzz growth, corroborated by ex situ SEM and FIB/SEM analysis, in conjunction with accurate ion-flux profile measurements. The measurements were carried out at the multicharged ion research facility (MIRF) at energies from 218 eV to 8.5 keV, using a high-lux deceleration module and beam flux monitor for optimizing the decel optics on the low energy MIRF beamline. The measurements suggest that nano-fuzz formation proceeds only if a critical rate of change of trapped He density in the W target is exceeded. To understand the energy dependence of the observed flux thresholds, the energy dependence of three contributing factors: ion reflection, ion range and target damage creation, were determined using the SRIM simulation code. The observed energy dependence can be well reproduced by the combined energy dependences of these three factors. The incubation fluences deduced from first visual appearance of surface emissivity change were (2-4) x 10(23) m(-2) at 218 eV, and roughly a factor of 10 less at the higher energies, which were all at or above the displacement energy threshold. The role of trapping at C impurity sites is discussed.