Jaarboek no. 89. 2010/2011 - Koninklijke Maatschappij voor ...

Natuurkundige voordrachten I Nieuwe reeks 89
Schakelbare spiegels: een samenspel van licht en waterstof
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in which the end of an optic fiber is coated with a
hydrogen-sensitive layer. The changes induced in
the optical properties of this layer during absorption
of hydrogen are detected optically at the other
end of the fiber. Compared to other hydrogen sensors,
optical fiber sensors have the advantage of
being simple yet very sensitive, cheap, insensitive to
electromagnetic noise, explosion safe and allowing
multiple sensing with one central (remote) detector.
This is the key advantage over conventional detectors
that make optical sensors cost competitive.
Furthermore, optic fibers are more resistant to corrosion
than standard electrical wires. Slaman et al12 have obtained interesting results with a Mg-Ti layer
protected by a thin Pd coating. In presence of only
0.4% hydrogen the reflection measured through an
optic fiber changes by almost one order of magnitude
and is reversible. This type of hydrogen detector
is presently developed further by ECN in Petten
Conclusions
The high temperature superconductor based on
dirty metallic hydrogen was unfortunately not discovered.
However, the special experimental techniques
developed for its quest, i.e. a diamond anvil
cell in which the reaction of thin metallic layers with
hydrogen could be optically observed, and the serendipity
of the researchers in Amsterdam, led to the
discovery of a new class of materials, the switchable
metal-hydride mirrors, with intriguing fundamental
properties and an interesting application potential.
References
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J.P. Dekker, D.G. de Groot, N.J. Koeman: Yttrium and
lanthanum hydride films with switchable optical
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6. See for a review also: http://www.nat.vu.nl/en/Images/
ReviewSwitchableMirrors10AUG04_tcm69-85550.pdf
and http://www.nat.vu.nl/~griessen.
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10. http://sciencelinks.jp/j-east/article/200608/0000200608
06A0163294.php.
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