Study of the 2H(3He, p0)4He nuclear reaction for deuterium depth profiling

• Deuterium deposition in Plasma-facing components ongoing problem in fusion reactors. • 2 H( 3 He,p 0 ) nuclear reaction is ideal for the quantitative deuterium depth profiling. • Differential cross sections for various backward angles are needed. • Systematic study of the differential cross sections for 6 detection angles. The differential cross sections of the 2 H( 3 He, p 0 ) 4 He reaction have been determined at six detection angles (120°, 130°, 140°, 150°, 160° and 170°) in the energy range between 300 and 4000 keV, with steps of 30 to 100 keV. The measurements were performed at the 4 MV Dynamitron Tandem Laboratory of the Central Unit for Ion Beams and Radionuclides of the Ruhr University Bochum in Germany. A thin layer of amorphous deuterated hydrocarbon (a-C:D) plasma-deposited on a chromium substrate was used in all measurements. Overall, the results of the present study are in very good agreement with differential cross-section data available in the literature for similar detection angles, with an average deviation of less than 6 %.