Chiang Mai Journal of Science

    Tungsten, celebrated for its exceptional physical and chemical properties, has found extensive application in national defense and military industries. However, traditional welding methods often fall short of achieving reliable connections for pure tungsten, significantly limiting the practical use of pure tungsten devices. To meet the critical demand for high-performance welding of pure tungsten components, W-W vacuum diffusion welding experiments were conducted using a gold-coated tungsten surface as an interlayer. These experiments involved a comprehensive investigation into the welding characteristics of tungsten. The tensile and shear strength of the welded joints was accurately measured using an electronic universal testing machine. Furthermore, the microstructure and elemental diffusion at the diffusion-bonded interface were meticulously analyzed using electron probe X-ray microanalysis (EPMA). The results demonstrate that adding gold as an interlayer markedly enhances the bonding effectiveness of tungsten, enabling reliable tungsten connections. According to the previous research, the successful fabrication of micro tungsten pinhole was achieved using vacuum diffusion welding technology, which solved the problem of fabricating thick pinhole, a key component in γ-ray imaging systems for high-energy physics research.