Large plasmonic field enhancement on hydrogen-absorbing transition metals at lower frequencies: Implications for hydrogen storage, sensing, and nuclear fusion

Abstract

The plasmonic enhancement of electromagnetic field energy density around planar surfaces of hydrogen-absorbing transition metals, Pd, Ti, and Ni, has been quantitatively investigated, to explore the use of plasmonics in the forthcoming hydrogen economy. We have observed that a large degree of energy focusing, with the enhancement factor over several hundreds, is available for these transition metals in the microwave region, even surpassing the enhancement for noble metals. This finding could potentially lead to technological progress in various hydrogen-related energy applications including hydrogen storage, sensing, and nuclear fusion.