Tritium diffusion in rutile (TiO2)

The diffusivity of tritium in rutile single crystals has been measured parallel to the a and c axes in the temperature range 250–900 °C. Raman-scattering measurements were also made to aid in identifying a nonpolar tritium species involved in the diffusion process. Two species, OT− ions and T2 molecules, are involved in tritium migration. The OT− ions dissociate preceding each tritium jump. Along the a axis the T2 molecules diffuse four orders of magnitude slower than the T+ ions associated with OT−. No dependency of the tritium diffusivity upon the rutile defect structure was observed.