Mass-spectroscopic study of the diffusion and solubility of helium in submicrocrystalline palladium

By the method of helium thermal desorption from submicrocrystalline palladium presaturated in the gaseous phase, the diffusion coefficient D _eff and solubility coefficient C _eff of helium are measured in the range P=0–3 MPa and T=293–508 K. The pressure dependence of C _eff flattens at high pressures. At low saturation pressures, the temperature dependences of the diffusion and solubility coefficients may be divided into (1) high-temperature (400–508 K) and (2) low-temperature (293–400 K) ranges described by the exponentials D _{1, 2}=D ₀exp (−E _{1, 2} ^D /kT) and C _{1, 2}=C ₀exp (−E _{1, 2} ^S /kT). The energies of diffusion activation are E ₂ ^D =0.0036±0.0015 eV and E ₁ ^D =0.33±0.03 eV, and the solution energies are E ₂ ^S =−0.025±0.008 eV and E ₁ ^S =0.086±0.008 eV in the low-and high-temperature ranges, respectively. Mechanisms behind the diffusion and solution of helium are discussed.