Radiation-Induced Diffusion of Hydrogen and Deuterium in MgO

Abstract

We find that the normally stable configuration of substitutional hydrogen and deuterium in MgO becomes highly unstable during ionizing irradiation. The cross section for displacement of hydrogen is found to be a strong function of the irradiating temperature, being ∼ ${10}^8$ b at 290 K and ∼ ${10}^6$ b at 85 K. The displacement cross section of hydrogen at 290 K is shown to be twice that of deuterium.