Rapid and damage-free outgassing of implanted helium from amorphous silicon oxycarbide

Authors

Qing Su, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Hepeng Ding, Texas A & M University - College Station
Lloyd Price, Texas A & M University - College Station
Lin Shao, Texas A & M University - College Station
Jonathan A. Hinks, University of Huddersfield
Graeme Greaves, University of Huddersfield
Stephen E. Donnelly, University of Huddersfield
Michael J. Demkowicz, Texas A & M University - College Station
Michael Nastasi, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

ORCID IDs

0000-0003-2477-0002

0000-0002-7069-1789

0000-0001-9656-5185

Date of this Version

2018

Citation

(2018) 8:5009

Comments

© The Author(s) 2018

This article is open access

DOI:10.1038/s41598-018-23426-y

Abstract

Damage caused by implanted helium (He) is a major concern for material performance in future nuclear reactors. We use a combination of experiments and modeling to demonstrate that amorphous silicon oxycarbide (SiOC) is immune to He-induced damage. By contrast with other solids, where implanted He becomes immobilized in nanometer-scale precipitates, He in SiOC remains in solution and outgasses from the material via atomic-scale diffusion without damaging its free surfaces. Furthermore, the behavior of He in SiOC is not sensitive to the exact concentration of carbon and hydrogen in this material, indicating that the composition of SiOC may be tuned to optimize other properties without compromising resistance to implanted He.