Nuclear Magnetic Resonance of Hydrogen Absorbed into Palladium Wires

Abstract

Nuclear magnetic resonance signals have been observed for hydrogen which had been absorbed into palladium wires. Steady-state absorption and pulsed "echo" experiments were performed. The wires were connected as circuit elements and the resonance signals observed were caused by protons contained in the skin layer of the wires. Samples were loaded by means of a glow discharge to concentrations from 0.2 to 0.8 (expressed as atom ratios H/Pd). Measurements were made, as a function of temperature and hydrogen concentration, of line width, $T_1$, $T_2$, and resonance shifts. The results are interpreted to give information on the diffusion of the protons among the interstices of the palladium lattice and on the interaction of the protons with the conduction electrons. The observation of an asymmetric line shape for the absorption signal has led to a theory of a "lossy" resonance to be expected in metal wires.