Erosion of steel under bombardment with ions of a deuterium plasma

The processes of sputtering of austenitic stainless steel (similar to 316SS ) under long-term bombardment with ions of deuterium plasma (energy 0.1-1.5 keV) as well as effects of erosion on optical properties of steel surface are investigated. It was found that for this kind of material there is no s elective etching of crystallographic defects that come out to the surface; therefore the rate of reflectance degradation decreases. Investigation of t he optical properties of the surface subjected to ion bombardment requires taking into account not only the development of surface microrelief but als o radiation damage created in the nearsurface laver. (C) 2000 Elsevier Scie nce Ltd. All rights reserved.