A Portable Dual-Mode Pulse and Continuous-Wave Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Spectrometer using a Subharmonic Direct Conversion Receiver

J.-H. Sun, M. Rustom, T. D. Nguyen, J. Singh, P. Qin, and C. Sideris, IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC), Feb 2024.

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) is a powerful spectroscopic technique for direct detection and characterization of free radicals, with high sensitivity and specificity suited for a wide range of uses, including biomedical applications such as site-directed spin labeling and potential applications in quantum technology such as spin qubit control.

In this work, a 14GHz spectrometer IC is presented that realizes, for the first time, pulse EPR spectroscopy on a highly integrated and low-power platform with onchip multi-pulse sequencing. A subharmonic architecture is introduced, enabling the use of a VCO as a flexible on-chip sensing cell and providing direct detection of the transverse magnetization after pulses.

Source: IEEE Xplore