Tungsten dust nanoparticles generation from blistering bursts under hydrogen environment in microwave ECR discharge

Blistering burst induced tungsten dust nanoparticles were observed for the first time when a tungsten sample is submitted to a hydrogen low-temperature discharge under low flux and low incident energy values (20, 120 and 220 eV) at a surface temperature of 500 K. Tungsten nanoparticles (∼50 nm) were organized in 2D domains with diameter that is well correlated to the blister volume losses by burst. These observations suggest that dust nanoparticles were generated from blistering burst.