Protons and Deuterons in Magnesium‐Doped Sapphire Crystals

Of great importance to the use of ceramics in fusion reactors are the problems associated with the presence of a high level of transmutation products induced by high-energy neutrons. For aluminum oxide, the four major products are magnesium, hydrogen, carbon, and helium. The solubility and diffusivity of hydrogen isotopes strongly depend on the concentration of specific impurities, which results in a change in the position and full-width-at-half-maximum of the OH{sup {minus}} and OD{sup {minus}} bands. The OH{sup {minus}} and OD{sup {minus}} stretching frequencies in magnesium-doped aluminum oxide crystals were determined by infrared absorption measurements. Two very broad bands centered at {approximately}3,005 and 2,228 cm{sup {minus}1} were observed for OH{sup {minus}} and OD{sup {minus}}, respectively. Polarization experiment results were compatible with OH{sup {minus}} (OD{sup {minus}}) ions lying in the basal plane, as is the case in undoped crystals. The threshold temperature for the in-diffusion of deuterons was obtained by annealing the samples in flowing D{sub 2}O vapor; the resulting value was {approximately}1,050 K. At 1223 K, the diffusion coefficient was {approximately}3 {times} 10{sup {minus}7} cm{sup 2}/s, and the activation energy was 1.6 eV.