Laser-Stimulated\nDesorption of Hydrogen in Palladium\nfor Dynamic Hydrogen Sorption Microanalysis

Hydrogen\nis a volatile element, both as a molecular gas and as\natomic hydrogen in materials. A method is described for the detection\nof the corresponding dynamic hydrogen in matter, as opposed to the\nrelatively stable bond hydrogen (“static hydrogen”).\nThe method is based on laser-stimulated hydrogen desorption using\nnanosecond laser pulses in the UV optical range. The principle, already\nestablished for surface hydrogen on nonabsorbent metals has been extended\nto hydrogen affine bulk systems. The feasibility of the idea is demonstrated\nby quantifying hydrogen in hydrogen-permeable metal membranes. Model\nexperiments, such as HD exchange, provide input to the model to extract\nthe surface hydrogen concentration of dynamic hydrogen from laser-stimulated\nhydrogen desorption while eliminating the influence of the laser-matter\ninteraction on the quantification. An estimate of the limit of detection\nis given.