Hydrogen Specific Sensor Technology for Wide Range of Applications

H2scan has commercialized a novel hydrogen specific sensing technology for hydrogen safety and process monitoring applications. The patented technology continuously monitors hydrogen levels from 15ppm to 100% by volume in the presence or absence of oxygen. The technology is based on a palladium-nickel alloy resistor and capacitor on a chip. The hydrogen specific palladium-nickel alloy was first developed at Sandia National Laboratories in the `United States during the early 1990’s and has unparalleled hydrogen specificity. H2scan, formed in 2002, made critical improvements in the sensor design and manufacturing processes. The sensor fabrication process was changed from complex CMOS processing to a much simpler semiconductor metal evaporation for higher throughput. Three (3) product series were developed for leak, area and process monitoring applications. This article presents an overview of the technology and the H2scan products, and summarizes the applications in the marketplace.