On the binding of nanometric hydrogen–helium clusters in tungsten

In this work we developed an embedded atom method potential for large scale atomistic simulations in the ternary tungsten-hydrogen-helium (W-H-He) system, focusing on applications in the fusion research domain. Following available ab initio data, the potential reproduces key interactions between H, He and point defects in W and utilizes the most recent potential for matrix W. The potential is applied to assess the thermal stability of various H-He complexes of sizes too large for ab initio techniques. The results show that the dissociation of H-He clusters stabilized by vacancies will occur primarily by emission of hydrogen atoms and then by break-up of V-He complexes, indicating that H-He interaction does influence the release of hydrogen.