MEPROS - Modular electron paramagnetic resonance operating software for multifunctional high-frequency EPR spectrometer

J Magn Reson. 2023 Oct:355:107556. doi: 10.1016/j.jmr.2023.107556. Epub 2023 Sep 12.

Abstract

We present a software solution developed in LabVIEW for a home-built High-Frequency Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (HF-EPR) spectrometer. A modular approach was applied to control the spectrometer subsystems and simplify the adaptation to hardware changes during the development. The solution implements measuring procedures for conventional Continuous Wave EPR (CW-EPR), Frequency-Swept EPR (FS-EPR), and Two-Dimensional EPR (2D-EPR) mapping, which are relevant in different cases. The software's automation capabilities were tested in several trial measurements to obtain CW-EPR spectra of Silicon Carbide doped by vanadium (SiC + V) at various temperatures and microwave frequencies, multi-frequency spectra via 2D-EPR mapping, and dense FS-EPR data of a lithium phthalocyanine crystal rotated in a magnetic field. Several prospective modifications of the software are discussed in the conclusion. A modular character allows the easy re-use of code portions in other experimental setups. The spectrometer and the software are currently deployed and utilized in a laboratory of EPR spectroscopy at Central European Institute of Technology (CEITEC) in Brno, and data obtained by it has been already used in a number of publications.

Keywords: Automation; Electron paramagnetic resonance; Instrumentation; LabVIEW; Software; Zeeman diagram.