Influence of damage on the thermal release of deuterium implants in graphite

Trapping and release of keV deuterium in pyrolytic graphite has been the subject of several investigations because of its relevance to the problem of interaction of a hot fusion plasma with the solid wall. In the present work the influence of He-induced damage on implantation profiles for deuterium in pyrolytic graphite is investigated for either a smaller (9 keV D + , 3 keV He + ) or larger He range (1.5 keV D + , 13 keV He + ). During annealing, the implanted D is found to be retained more strongly at depths where He-damage has been introduced. The results show that the trapping sites of deuterium in pyrolytic graphite are at least partly connected with radiation damage.