Determination of hydrogen in niobium by cold neutron prompt gamma ray activation analysis and neutron incoherent scattering

The presence of trace amounts of hydrogen in niobium is believed to have a detrimental effect on the mechanical and superconducting properties. Unfortunately, few techniques are capable of measuring hydrogen at these levels. We have developed two techniques for measuring hydrogen in materials. Cold neutron prompt gamma-ray activation analysis (PGAA) has proven useful for the determination of hydrogen and other elements in a wide variety of materials. Neutron incoherent scattering (NIS), a complementary tool to PGAA, has been used to measure trace hydrogen in titanium. Both techniques were used to study the effects of vacuum heating and chemical polishing on the hydrogen content of superconducting niobium.