Optimal dielectric and cavity configurations for improving the efficiency of electron paramagnetic resonance probes

EPR UNIFORM FIELD SIGNAL ENHANCEMENT BY DIELECTRIC TUBES IN CAVITIES

The dielectric tube resonator (DTR) for EPR spectroscopy is introduced. It is defined as a metallic cylindrical TE011 microwave cavity that contains a dielectric tube centered on the axis of the cylinder. Contour plots of dimensions of the metallic cylinder to achieve resonance at 9.5 GHz are shown for quartz, sapphire, and rutile tubes as a function of wall thickness and average radius. These contour plots were developed using analytical equations and confirmed by finite element modeling. They can be used in two ways: design of the metallic cylinder for use at 9.5 GHz that incorporates a readily available tube such as a sapphire tube intended for NMR, or design of a custom procured tube for optimized performance for specific sample-size constraints. The charts extend to the limiting condition where the dielectric fills the tube. However, the structure at this limit is not a dielectric resonator due to the metal wall and does not radiate. In addition, the uniform field (UF) DTR is introduced. Development of the UF resonator starting with a dielectric tube resonator is shown. The diameter of the tube remains constant along the cavity axis, and the diameter of the cylindrical metallic enclosure increases at the ends of the cavity to satisfy the uniform field condition. This structure has advantages over the previously developed UF TE011 resonators: higher resonator efficiency parameter Λ, convenient overall size when using sapphire tubes, and higher quality data for small samples. The DTR and UF DTR structures fill the gap between free space and dielectric resonator limits in a continuous manner.

Bismuth germanate as a perspective material for dielectric resonators in EPR spectroscopy

High purity bismuth germanate (Bi4(GeO4)3, BGO) is proposed and implemented as an alternative material for dielectric EPR resonators. A significant improvement of the absolute sensitivity can be readily achieved by substituting the alumina insert (ring) by BGO-made one in commercially available X-band EPR probeheads. Four BGO dielectric inserts of 2, 3, 4 and 5mm inner diameter (ID) were made for comparison with standard 5mm inner diameter alumina insert. All inserts were introduced into commercial Bruker EPR resonator ER 4118X-MD-5W1, and their performance was investigated. The Q-values of empty resonators, B1 saturation curves and continuous wave EPR spectra of DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) were measured and analyzed in a temperature range 6-300K. BGO-made resonators were found superior in several important aspects. The background signals arising from BGO are much weaker compared to those of alumina at B=0-0.6T and T=6-300K; this is especially useful for measuring weak signals in the half-field region, as well as those near the central field. Moreover, mechanical properties of BGO allow easy fabrication of dielectric bodies having various shapes and sizes; in particular, small BGO resonators (e.g. ID=2 or 3mm) strongly enhance sensitivity for small samples due to increase of the filling factor. All these advantages have been also inspected in the pulse mode, proving that higher B1 fields and better filling factors can be achieved, contributing to the overall enhancement of the performance.