Modeling analysis and experimental study on the optical fiber hydrogen sensor based on Pd-Y alloy thin film

The failure of hydrogen sensor with palladium film is primarily the phase transition of PdH. To restrain this, a novel palladium and yttrium (Pd-Y) alloy film was prepared by the co-sputtering method and was used to design an optical fiber hydrogen sensor. A sensor model was established based on the optical film matrix method. The relationship between the reflectivity of the film and the hydrogen concentration was discussed. The experimental results show that this sensor is superior to the traditional sensor with Pd in shortening the response and recovery time, restraining drift, and promoting repeatability. The Pd-Y alloy film is an extremely promising material for detecting hydrogen. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4731725]