Development of a miniaturised EPR spectrometer
© Benedikt Schlecker
The "EPR on a Chip" project did start on June 3. 2019 with a kick off meeting in Berlin at HZB. © HZB
Several research institutions are developing a miniaturized electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) device with industrial partner Bruker to investigate semiconductor materials, solar cells, catalysts and electrodes for fuel cells and batteries. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is funding the "EPR-on-a-Chip" or EPRoC project with 6.7 million euros. On June 3, 2019, the kick-off meeting took place at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin.
Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) provides detailed information about the material's inner structure, down to the atomic level, via the excitation of electron spin in the material. EPR spectroscopy is an important instrument in biophysics, chemistry and medical diagnostics, but is also used in research on energy materials such as catalysts, battery electrodes and solar cell components.
However, EPR spectrometers are usually large and expensive devices that can only be found in particularly well-equipped research laboratories. In addition, it is very difficult to perform investigations under real process conditions (operando measurement) with conventional EPR instruments.
But there is another way: The first demo version of a miniaturized EPR spectrometer was presented in 2017. As part of the BMBF project "EPRoC", a chip-based electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy (EPRoC) is to be developed under the direction of Prof. Dr. Klaus Lips and in close cooperation with the University of Stuttgart, the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and the Bruker company.
The EPR spectrometer is miniaturized to chip size so that it can even be inserted inside the sample. The aim is to use EPRoC to directly analyze growth processes of thin films for photovoltaics and to investigate and improve catalytic processes during the production of solar hydrogen. This would allow to elucidate how structure formation on the nanoscale is related to the functionality of processes and materials.
During the three-year term of the project, the partners will explore the potential of the technology by further improving the efficiency of the processes and components and reducing costs. In addition, they aim to use EPRoC technology to dramatically improve the sensitivity of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometers. This could also have a long-term impact on magnetic resonance imaging used in medicine.
The findings should ensure that EPRoC technology can be developed to market maturity within the next ten years. The miniaturisation of EPR will open up new fields of application and can lead to faster progress in energy materials research, sensor technology, medicine, environmental technology, as well as food and analytical chemistry.
Partners:
- Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, Institute for Nanospectroscopy (HZB), Coordination Prof. Dr. Klaus Lips
- University of Stuttgart
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute for Microstructure Technology (KIT)
- Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion (MPICEC)
- Bruker Biospin GmbH
- Magnon momentum microscopy: A new window into nanoscale spin-wavesAn international team lead by the Max Born Institute has developed a new type of momentum microscopy to image magnons — the quanta of collectively excited spins — directly in two-dimensional reciprocal space using soft X-rays. Measurements have taken place at BESSY II and PETRA III, first author ist the HZB physicist Steffen Wittrock. Owing to its remarkable sensitivity, simplicity, and access to nanometer-scale wavelengths, this novel technique establishes a powerful and versatile platform for exploring nonlinear magnon interactions, which are promising for future computing schemes.
- X-ray analysis reveals overpainted fascist symbolsErich Mercker was a successful painter during the Nazi era and in the years that followed. After 1945, he covered up Nazi symbols in at least one of his paintings. With an interdisciplinary team, physicist Dr Ioanna Mantouvalou reports on this study in the Nature Journal Heritage Science.
- AI agents deliver results – but do they reason scientifically?A research team co-led by Kevin Maik Jablonka from the Helmholtz Institute for Polymers in Energy Applications Jena (HIPOLE Jena) and N. M. Anoop Krishnan from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi has developed Corral, a new benchmark for AI agents in science. The preprint “AI scientists produce results without reasoning scientifically” has been published on arXiv (https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2604.18805). The analysis shows that current systems can execute scientific workflows and deliver results; however, they often do not follow the basic principles of scientific testing and reasoning.