The microstructure and He⁺ ion irradiation behavior of novel low-activation W-Ta-Cr-V refractory high entropy alloy for nuclear applications

Microstructure and nanohardness of a nearly equimolar W-Ta-Cr-V high entropy alloy (HEA), as well as its irradiation response under He⁺ irradiation, were investigated. The single-phase body-centered cubic nanostructured alloy with a 1 µm thick layer was fabricated on a silicon substrate using a magnetron sputtering method. The HEA film has a complex microstructure consisting of micrometric domains that exhibit internal nanostructure controlled by their crystal orientation. The measured nanohardness of the W-Ta-Cr-V alloy is 13 ± 2 GPa, which significantly exceeds the hardness of nanocrystalline tungsten as a result of the high solid-solution strengthening effect. In order to evaluate the irradiation resistance of the HEA film, the material was irradiated with 200 keV He⁺ ions at room temperature, with two different ion fluences: 1 × 10¹⁶ and 5 × 10¹⁶ ions/cm². Using transmission electron microscopy, a high density of extremely fine He bubbles is observed that were uniformly distributed in the matrix. The increase of He⁺ ion fluence increased the density of bubbles, whereas their size remained at a similar level, which indicates that the damage proceeds by the nucleation of additional He bubbles, not by their growth.