Deuterium storage in nanocrystalline magnesium thin films

Nanocrystalline magnesium deuteride thin films with the β-MgD2 structure were prepared by vacuum evaporation of hexagonal magnesium (h-Mg) samples and thermal annealing in 0.15 MPa D2 atmosphere at 373 K. Thermal desorption spectroscopy analysis indicated that the rate-limiting step in the deuterium desorption was given by the thermal decomposition of the deuteride phase. The activation energy Δg of the β-MgD2→h-Mg+D2 reaction scaled from 1.13±0.03 eV in 650-nm-thick films to 1.01±0.02 eV in 75-nm-thick films most likely as consequence of different stress and defect level. Positron annihilation spectroscopy analysis of the thin-film samples submitted to deuterium absorption and desorption cycles reveal the presence of a high concentration of void-like defects in the h-Mg layers after the very first decomposition of the β-MgD2 phase, the presence of these open volume defects reduces the D2 absorption capacity of the h-Mg thin film.