Broadband Transmission EPR Spectroscopy

作者:Hagen Wilfred R*
来源:PLos One, 2013, 8(3): e59874.
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0059874

摘要

EPR spectroscopy employs a resonator operating at a single microwave frequency and phase-sensitive detection using modulation of the magnetic field. The X-band spectrometer is the general standard with a frequency in the 9-10 GHz range. Most (bio)molecular EPR spectra are determined by a combination of the frequency-dependent electronic Zeeman interaction and a number of frequency-independent interactions, notably, electron spin - nuclear spin interactions and electron spin - electron spin interactions, and unambiguous analysis requires data collection at different frequencies. Extant and long-standing practice is to use a different spectrometer for each frequency. We explore the alternative of replacing the narrow-band source plus single-mode resonator with a continuously tunable microwave source plus a non-resonant coaxial transmission cell in an unmodulated external field. Our source is an arbitrary wave digital signal generator producing an amplitude-modulated sinusoidal microwave in combination with a broadband amplifier for 0.8-2.7 GHz. Theory is developed for coaxial transmission with EPR detection as a function of cell dimensions and materials. We explore examples of a doublet system, a high-spin system, and an integer-spin system. Long, straigth, helical, and helico-toroidal cells are developed and tested with dilute aqueous solutions of spin label hydroxy-tempo. A detection limit of circa 5 mM HO-tempo in water at 800 MHz is obtained for the present setup, and possibilities for future improvement are discussed.

  • 出版日期2013-3-21