Capital Award for Core Equipment 2022/23, National Research Facility for Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

2022/23年度核心设备资本奖，国家电子顺磁共振波谱研究装置

• 批准号: EP/X034623/1
• 负责人: David Collison
• 金额: $ 60.51万
• 依托单位: University of Manchester
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FX034623%2F1
• 关键词: Capital; Award; Core; Equipment; 2022

Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) spectroscopy, also known as Electron Spin Resonance (ESR), is possibly the most powerful technique for characterisation of paramagnetic materials, i.e. that contain unpaired electrons. Unpaired electrons give rise to the magnetic and electronic properties of materials and often govern reactivity when present, hence understanding their environment and behaviour is important. Paramagnets are ubiquitous from biological processes to magnetic materials; hence EPR is an essential tool in physics, chemistry, materials and biological sciences. The EPSRC funds a National Research Facility (NRF) for EPR, located in the Photon Science Institute (PSI) at The University of Manchester (UoM), providing access to state-of-the art experimental techniques and expertise for the UK academic community. Crudely, there are two ways to do EPR spectroscopy: continuous wave (cw) EPR and pulsed EPR, which give complementary information. Pulsed EPR is a much higher resolution technique (allowing measurement of much weaker interactions involving the unpaired electron) and also gives access to time-resolved information. However, such experiments can require access to very low temperatures (<10 K) otherwise signal response may be non-existent or data collection very slow, requiring long data collection to get acceptable signal-to-noise (e.g. due to low paramagnet concentration). It is common for an experiment on a single sample to last a week of continuous measurement. As a consequence, the three pulsed EPR spectrometers that the EPR NRF currently runs are by far and away the most oversubscribed pieces of instrumentation. Two of those spectrometers have cooling systems that give base temperature of ca. 2 K and can be remotely monitored and controlled, but the third only reaches 10 K and requires manual control. Allied to a forthcoming upgrade, all pulsed EPR frequencies will have the same sample temperature control, thereby maximising flexibility and throughput across four frequency bands (two per spectrometer platform): X-/Q-, Q-/S- and X-/L-bands, noting that Q- and X-band are most requested frequencies by the user community. There has been a large increase in the interest in and use of optically excited samples monitored by EPR spectroscopy, which are primarily serviced by either pulsed or transient EPR methods. Like many pulsed experiments, data collection can be slow, and the inclusion of pulsed light excitation into the microwave (and sometimes radiofrequency) pulse sequences lengthens measurement time further. Installing a fast, high power, tunable laser will increase capacity and efficiency of these optical experiments. In conjunction with our slower, lower power tunable laser, the EPR spectrometers will be able to deliver 'two colour' experiments, for which there is also growing interest.The extension to cooling and optical excitation capability will increase the capacity for pulsed EPR for all users of the NRF across the UK, including ECRs and doctoral students, and the new capabilities will widen the user base. To contact the National EPR Facility and Service, please email: [e-mail] and web-site: https://www.chemistry.manchester.ac.uk/epr/

电子顺磁共振（EPR）光谱，也称为电子自旋共振（ESR），可能是表征顺磁性材料的最强大技术，即包含不成对电子的电子。未配对的电子产生材料的磁性和电子特性，并且在存在时通常会控制反应性，因此了解其环境和行为很重要。从生物过程到磁性材料，Paramagnets无处不在。因此，EPR是物理，化学，材料和生物科学的重要工具。 EPSRC为位于曼彻斯特大学（UOM）的光子科学研究所（PSI）的EPR提供了国家研究机构（NRF），为英国学术界提供了最先进的实验技术和专业知识。粗略地，进行EPR光谱的方法有两种方法：连续波（CW）EPR和脉冲EPR，提供互补信息。脉冲EPR是一种更高的分辨率技术（允许测量涉及未配对电子的弱相互作用），并且还可以访问时间分辨信息。但是，这样的实验可能需要访问非常低的温度（<10 k），否则信号响应可能不存在或数据收集非常缓慢，需要长的数据收集才能获得可接受的信号到噪声（例如，由于Paramagnet浓度较低，因此。在单个样本上进行实验通常是连续测量的一周。结果，EPR NRF当前运行的三个脉冲EPR光谱仪是远处和最多的仪表仪。这些光谱仪中的两个具有冷却系统，可赋予CA的基础温度。 2 K可以进行远程监控和控制，但第三个只能达到10 K，需要手动控制。与即将进行的升级相关，所有脉冲EPR频率都将具有相同的样品温度控制，从而最大程度地提高了四个频带（每个光谱仪平台两个）的柔韧性和吞吐量：X-/Q-，Q-/q-/s-和x-/l频段，指出Q-和X-Band是用户社区最需要的Q-和X频段。通过EPR光谱监测的光学激发样品的兴趣和使用量很大，主要是通过脉冲或瞬态EPR方法提供的。像许多脉冲实验一样，数据收集可能会很慢，并且将脉冲光激发纳入微波（有时是辐射频率）脉冲序列可以进一步延长测量时间。安装快速，高功率，可调激光器将提高这些光学实验的容量和效率。结合我们较慢，低功率可调节激光，EPR光谱仪将能够提供“两种颜色”实验，这也越来越兴趣。对冷却和光学激发能力的扩展将增加英国所有NRF的脉冲EPR的能力，包括ECRS和博士生的所有Compabs，以及新的Compability的用户，以及新的Compabilition。要联系国家EPR设施和服务，请发送电子邮件至：[e-mail]和Web-Site：https：//www.chemistry.manchester.amchester.ac.uk/epr/