ICMCTF 2026 Session IUVSTA-WeM: IUVSTA Special Session

I’ll bring context to the talk with a short introduction of IUVSTA, the International Union for Vacuum Science, Technique and Application. As President, a main priority is public outreach to highlight the impact of vacuum technology on everyday life. Our IUVSTA Divisions are making significant contributions to the development of faster, smaller, and more energy-efficient technologies, from computer chips to artificial intelligence systems, self-driving cars, and more energy-efficient systems.

The redefinition of the International System of Units (SI) has opened up new avenues for realizing fundamental units, enabling the development of innovative measurement technologies that are quantum-based. The emergence of these quantum-based metrology systems has the potential to transform various fields, but also raises important questions about their miniaturization, deployment, and impact on the metrology ecosystem. This talk will explore the exciting possibilities and challenges arising from these advancements, with a focus on the role of metrology institutes in the new era of quantum-based measurement.

The vacuum technology technical core of the presentation will delve into recent breakthroughs in quantum-based measurement methods, including the Fixed Length Optical Cavity (FLOC) for pressure measurement and the Cold Atom Vacuum Standard (CAVS) for vacuum metrology. These cutting-edge approaches leverage fundamental physics, quantum mechanics, and photonics to achieve high accuracy and precision. The use of photons for measurement readout enables the exploitation of the rapidly growing field of photonics, paving the way for the development of compact, field-deployable measurement systems.

The NIST on a Chip program will be highlighted as a key initiative driving the miniaturization of measurement technologies. By exploring the intersection of quantum-based metrology, photonics, and miniaturization, this talk aims to spark a discussion on the future of metrology and the role of metrology institutes in this new ecosystem where field-deployable systems are in use.

Hydrogen absorption in metals is relevant to a variety of energy- and environment-related applications, including hydrogen storage, high-temperature superconductivity, and catalytic reactivity [1]. Because hydrogen is the lightest atom, it is often argued that hydrogen in metals exhibits quantum effects arising from zero-point vibrations and quantum tunneling. To investigate the behavior of hydrogen in metal thin films, our group has developed nuclear reaction analysis (NRA) [2] combined with channeling and electrical resistance measurements. Using this approach, we have studied the structure and diffusion of hydrogen in typical hydrogen-absorbing metals of titanium and palladium, in which quantum effects play a significant role [3-5].

Titanium hydride thin films with a thickness of 90 nm were fabricated on MgO(110) substrates by reactive magnetron sputtering. Two-dimensional NRA mapping revealed axial and planar channeling patterns. By comparison with trajectory simulations, approximately 10% of the hydrogen was found to occupy octahedral sites, while the remaining hydrogen resided at tetrahedral sites. In contrast, deuterium was found to occupy exclusively the tetrahedral sites, a difference attributed to zero-point vibrational effects [3]. A palladium thin film with a thickness of 10 nm was fabricated on a glass substrate and hydrogenated either by hydrogen gas exposure followed by quenching or by low-energy hydrogen ion irradiation. In both cases, hydrogen initially occupied metastable hydride states and was observed to migrate to stable states. By measuring the time evolution of the film resistance, hydrogen diffusion in the films was analyzed, revealing a crossover from a classical thermally activated regime to a quantum regime [4,5].

1. K. Fukutani et al., Chem. Rec. 17, 233 (2017).
2. M. Wilde and K. Fukutani, Surf. Sci. Rep. 69 (2014) 196;
3. T. Ozawa et al., Nat. Commun. 15, 9558 (2024).
4. T. Ozawa et al., J. Phys. Chem. Solids 185, 111741 (2024).
5. T. Ozawa et al., Sci. Adv. 11, eady8495 (2025).