The injection of inert gas ions into solids: Their trapping and escape

The title of this symposium and proceedings, and of the other papers presented, reveals not only the general interest in the behaviour of rare gases in solids but some of the technological reasons why knowledge of such behaviour is important. Clearly basic information is required to understand fission gas generation and its consequence for swelling and embrittlement in fission reactors, for understanding and controlling first wall problems in fusion reactors and for attempting to design storage for active gas waste. In all of these areas the rare gas atoms are generated with kinetic energy and may thus interact differently, during their slowing down, with the solid than if they had been introduced more gently (e.g. via diffusion) into the solid. An important method of simulating the behaviour of such energetic rare gas atoms in solids is via external irradiation of the solid with rare gas ions of appropriate species and energies and it is the purpose of this review to evaluate studies of this nature.