Structural and Optical Properties of Thin Film β-Ta upon Exposure to Hydrogen to Asses Its Applicability as Hydrogen Sensing Material

Here, we study the structural and optical properties of tetragonal β-tantalum-sputtered thin films both ex situ and when exposed to hydrogen, with a focus on optical hydrogen sensing applications. Using optical transmission measurements, out-of-plane and in-plane X-ray diffraction, and X-ray and neutron reflectometry, we show that thin film β...

Tuning the Properties of Thin-Film TaRu for Hydrogen-Sensing Applications

Accurate, cost-efficient, and safe hydrogen sensors will play a key role in the future hydrogen economy. Optical hydrogen sensors based on metal hydrides are attractive owing to their small size and costs and the fact that they are intrinsically safe. These sensors rely on suitable sensing materials, of which the optical properties change...

Tantalum-Palladium: Hysteresis-Free Optical Hydrogen Sensor Over 7 Orders of Magnitude in Pressure with Sub-Second Response

Hydrogen detection in a reliable, fast, and cost-effective manner is a prerequisite for the large-scale implementation of hydrogen in a green economy. Thin film Ta_1−yPd_y is presented as an effective optical sensing material with extremely wide sensing ranges covering at least 7 orders of magnitude in hydrogen pressure....

Defects and thermal stability of nanothin Cu films on Mo and Ta

In situ thermal helium desorption spectrometry (THDS) has been used to characterize defects and thermal stability of nanothin Cu films (0.5-30 nm) deposited on Mo and Ta by electron beam evaporation in ultrahigh vacuum. The substrates used were Mo(110), Mo(100), polycrystalline Mo, Ta(110) and Ta(100). Cu/Mo and Cu/Ta are heteroepitaxial systems...

Atomistic simulation of Cu-Ta thin film deposition and other phenomena

Tantalum (Ta) is a metal with good properties to act as a diffusion barrier material in computer chips, where it should prevent the mixing of Cu into Si and SiO. The deposition of thin Cu films onto various Ta substrates has been studied through molecular dynamics simulations, using either empirical EAM potentials or Density Functional Theory ...