Hydrogen Behavior in Chromium-Coated Zirconium Alloy E-110 During Deposition in a Gas Discharge

The regularities and mechanisms of the processes characterizing the behavior of hydrogen in the zirconium alloy E-110 with a chromium coating were studied at different stages of the experiment: during irradiation of the substrate by ions from argon plasma and in the process of coating deposition. After ion bombardment of the zirconium, the hydrogen was retained in the interior and in the defects of the surface layer of the zirconium, and hydrogen trapping decreased with increasing residual gas pressure during irradiation in the range 1.3–30 mPa. The hydrogen atoms trapped during deposition of the chromium coating were retained primarily in the zirconium. As the pressure of the deuterium added to the residual gas during coating deposition increased, the trapping of deuterium atoms increased in the zirconium and remained unchanged in the chromium coating. Hydrogen atoms were observed to transition from the interior of the zirconium to the trapping centers in the oxide layer, which was accompanied by a reduction of the hydrogen desorption temperature and observed during ion irradiation of the substrate and coating deposition in a low vacuum.