Detection of L-band electron paramagnetic resonance in the DPPH molecule using impedance measurements

Detection of electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) using a microwave cavity resonating at a fixed frequency (between 9 and 10 GHz) remains the most popular method to date. Here, we report a cavity-less technique which makes use of only an impedance analyzer and a copper strip coil to detect L-band EPR (f = 1–3 GHz) in the standard EPR marker 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH). Our method relies on measuring the magnetoimpedance (MI) response of DPPH through a copper strip coil that encloses DPPH. In contrast to commercial EPR which measures only the field derivative of power absorption, our method enables us to deduce both absorption and dispersion. Changes in resistance (R) and reactance (X) of the copper strip while sweeping an external dc magnetic field, were measured for different frequencies (f = 0.9 to 2.5 GHz) of radio frequency current in the coil. R exhibits a sharp peak at a critical value of the dc magnetic field, which is identified as the resonance field and X shows a dispersion at the same frequency. The data were analyzed to obtain line width and resonance field parameters. The resonance field increased linearly with frequency and the obtained Landé g factor of 1.999 ± 0.0197 is close to the accepted value of 2.0036, measured in the X-band. The simplicity of this technique can be exploited to study paramagnetic centers in catalysis and other materials.