Plasma-sprayed coatings for plasma-facing components

High-Z materials such as tungsten and low-Z materials such as boron carbide are of significance as internal coatings for plasma erosion protective purposes in nuclear fusion devices. Both materials were processed by plasma spraying. The given substrate for boron carbide was steel where the dominant problem is the internal stress in the layer, which depends on the coating porosity. In the case of tungsten layers on copper substrates, the fusion-relevant coating properties decisively depend on the spraying parameters, e.g. the chamber pressure and the relative spraying distance. Such layers were subjected to disruption simulation tests using an electron beam test facility.