Characterization of Defects in Titanium Created by Hydrogen Charging

Hydrogen interaction with vacancies in α-Ti was investigated employing positron lifetime spectroscopy combined with ab initio theoretical modeling of vacancy-hydrogen complexes. Ab initio modeling revealed that multiple hydrogen atoms up to 7 can be trapped at vacancies in the α-Ti lattice. Trapped H atoms are located close to the nearest neighbor tetrahedral sites around the centre of vacancy. Lifetimes of positrons trapped at vacancies associated with various numbers of hydrogen atoms were calculated. Positron lifetime measurement of H-loaded α-Ti samples revealed that phase transition into the hydride phase introduced dislocations. Vacancies were created by H loading as well and agglomerated into small vacancy clusters.