Comparative study of helium bubbles in a Ti-Ta alloy and a Ti/Ta nanocomposite
Here, we investigated the size, density, and distribution of helium (He) bubbles in a Ti-Ta single-phase alloy and a Ti/Ta dual-phase nanocomposite using transmission electron microscopy. The Ti/Ta nanocomposite was fabricated via phase separation during high-temperature annealing of the single-phase Ti-Ta alloy. He ion implantation in the Ti-Ta single-phase alloy leads to the formation of nano-scale He bubbles (~1.7 nm in size, ~2.6×10 5 /μm 3 in volumetric density). He bubbles were found to segregate to grain boundaries. Under identical implantation conditions, numerous He bubbles also formed in the Ti/Ta nanocomposite. Closer inspection revealed that He bubbles in the Ti-rich phase are smaller and of higher volumetric density (~1.2 nm, ~8.4×10 5 /μm 3 ) than those in the Tarich phase (~3 nm, ~1.8×10 5 /μm 3 ) and the single-phase alloy. He bubbles were also observed to decorate phase boundaries, but they were generally smaller than those on grain boundaries. These results suggest that Ti/Ta phase boundaries are less conducive to the growth of large He bubbles than grain boundaries in the Ti-Ta single phase alloy.