EPR / Electron Paramagnetic Resonance

Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) Spectroscopy is a Magnetic Resonance technique which is based on the absorption of microwaves from electron spins. EPR spectroscopy is of utmost importance in order to elucidate the structure and function of systems featuring uncoupled electrons such as molecular inorganic materials, carbon based materials, paramagnetic centers in bio-materials, and semiconductors. In these systems EPR spectroscopy gives invaluable information concerning the electronic structure and determines critical magnetic parameters such as g-factors, hyperfine interactions, exchange coupling and magnetic anisotropy.

EPR spectroscopy is a valuable technique to study the static and dynamic properties of magnetic nanoparticles with a variety of applications such as magnetic storage, magnetic resonance contrast agents and pharmaceuticals.

Pulsed EPR spectroscopy, where the microwave irradiation is applied in the form of short pulses, comprises many advanced methods for the measurement of dynamic effects and the determination of weak hyperfine interactions between the unpaired electron and distant magnetic nuclei. These methods are typically applied for the measurement of the electron spin coherence time of molecular magnets or encaged paramagnetic atoms, and their evaluation as quantum bits (qubits) in the field of spin-based quantum computing. Moreover, they provide information on the local environment of the paramagnetic center and thus are well suited for structural studies in systems lacking long-range order on length scales that are not easily accessible by other techniques.