ERDA, RBS, TEM and SEM characterization of microstructural evolution in helium-implanted Hastelloy N alloy

Abstract Hastelloy N alloy was implanted with 30 keV, 5 × 10 16  ions/cm 2 helium ions at room temperature, and subsequent annealed at 600 °C for 1 h and further annealed at 850 °C for 5 h in vacuum. Using elastic recoil detection analysis (ERDA) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), the depth profiles of helium concentration and helium bubbles in helium-implanted Hastelloy N alloy were investigated, respectively. The diffusion of helium and molybdenum elements to surface occurred during the vacuum annealing at 850 °C (5 h). It was also observed that bubbles in molybdenum-enriched region were much larger in size than those in deeper region. In addition, it is worth noting that plenty of nano-holes can be observed on the surface of helium-implanted sample after high temperature annealing by scanning electron microscope (SEM). This observation provides the evidence for the occurrence of helium release, which can be also inferred from the results of ERDA and TEM analysis.