Molecular dynamics simulations of boronized graphite surfaces under bombardment by deuterium

POSTER

Abstract

The addition of boron to graphite plasma facing components in fusion devices has been shown reduce the sputtering of wall material and increase deuterium retention. This has the effect of preventing cooling of the plasma by sputtered material, improving the performance of these fusion devices. Using the molecular dynamics code LAMMPS, we investigate the boronization of graphite surfaces, describing the formation of an amorphous boron/carbon layer. We explore the effect of boron bombardment energy on the nature of this amorphous layer, and further study the sputtering products and evolution of the boronized graphite surfaces under bombardment by deuterium.

*This research used resources of the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC), a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science User Facility located at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, operated under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231. The research described in this paper was conducted under the Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program at Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, a national laboratory operated by Princeton University for the U.S. Department of Energy under Prime Contract No. DE-AC02-09CH11466

Publication: Rau A, Jubin S, Vella JR, Kaganovich I. Simulations of Graphite Boronization: A molecular dynamics study of amorphization resulting from bombardment. Frontiers in Physics. [submitted manuscript]

Presenters

  • Sierra E Jubin

    • Princeton University

Authors

  • Sierra E Jubin

    • Princeton University

  • Aaditya Rau

    • Johns Hopkins University

  • Joseph R Vella

    • Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL)

  • Stephane A Ethier

    • Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory

  • Igor D Kaganovich

    • Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
    • Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton, Princeton University, USA