Jim,
The He and H2 can depart from inside the device just as easily as they
entered, so if put back in a normal environment, the diffusion will
reverse and eventually stop at a new equilibrium point. If the parts are
exposed to the nice high vacuum of free space, they should ultimately be
"cleaner" inside, than when in our atmosphere.
I could picture that a temporary excess of some species may upset
operation, but eventually it should return to normal, unless some
irreversible change or damage has occurred. I think I'd worry more about
H2 (or even D2) leaking into an ionized-gas mix type of device (like Cs
or Rb), and maybe reacting chemically. The He should remain inert and
not leave any reaction products, and will depart eventually.
In a device like a MEMS, there would be no opportunity for chemical
reactions, and any excess H2 or He should return to background levels,
with no harm done. I suppose it's possible for some H2 to "stick" in/on
some MEMS structure parts, depending on what they're made of, and
increase their mass, but it seems probably a very tiny effect if any.
Ed
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