Hydrogen superpermeation resistant to ion sputtering

A nonmetallic monolayer on the surface of a metallic membrane gives rise to the superpermeation of suprathermal hydrogen. This means that virtually the whole implanted flux passes through the membrane, not depending on membrane temperature and thickness. The fact that superpermeation is degrading at a sufficiently high energy of incident hydrogen particles was considered a "natural" result of sputtering of the monolayer. It is now proven that Nb containing an O impurity would be normally superpermeable to suprathermal hydrogen at any incident energy, whereas the "usual" sensitivity to sputtering is conditioned by a NbC layer originally present at the "real" surface of Nb. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.