Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Electron spin resonance (ESR)'

The research in low-dimensional (low-D) quantum spin systems has become an arduous challenge for the condensed matter physics community during the last years. In systems with low dimensional magnetic interactions the exchange coupling is restricted to dimensions lower than the full three-D exhibited by the bulk real material. The remarkable interest in this field is fueled by a continuous stream of striking discoveries like superconductivity, quantum liquid and spin gap states, chiral phases, etc, derived from the strong effect of quantum fluctuations on the macroscopic properties of the system and the competition between electronic and magnetic degrees of freedom. The main goal of the current studies is to reach a broad understanding of the mechanisms that participate in the formation of those novel ground states as well as the characteristic dependence with respect to relevant physical parameters. In this thesis we present the results of an Electron Spin Resonance (ESR)-based study on different quasi-1D spin systems, exemplifying the realization of 1D-magnetic spin-chains typically containing transition metal oxides such as Cu2+ or V4+. The local sensitivity of the ESR technique has been considered useful in exploring magnetic excitation energies, dominant mechanisms of exchange interactions, spin fluctuations and the dimensionality of the electron spin system, among others. Aside from ESR other experimental results, e.g., magnetization and nuclear magnetic resonance besides some theoretical approaches were especially helpful in achieving a proper understanding and modeling of those low-D spin systems. This thesis is organized into two parts: The first three chapters are devoted to the basic knowledge of the subject. The first chapter is about magnetic exchange interactions between spin moments and the effect of the crystal field potential and the external magnetic field. The second chapter is a short introduction on exchange interactions in a 1D-spin chain, and the third chapter is devoted to ESR basics and the elucidation of dynamic magnetic properties from the absorption spectrum parameters. The second part deals with the experimental results. In the fourth chapter we start with the magnetization results from the zero-dimensional endohedral fullerene Dy3N@C80. This system is seemingly ESR “silent” at the frequency of X-band experiments. The fifth chapter shows an unexpected temperature dependence of the anisotropy in the homometallic ferrimagnet Na2Cu5Si4O14 containing alternating dimer-trimer units in the zig-zag Cu-O chains. In the sixth chapter different magnetic species in the layer structure of vanadium oxide nanotubes (VOx-NT) have been identified, confirming earlier magnetization measurements. Moreover the superparamagnetic-like nature of the Li-doped VOx-NT samples was found to justify its ferromagnetic character at particular Li concentration on the room temperature scale. In the seventh chapter the Li2ZrCuO4 system is presented as a unique model to study the influence of additional interactions on frustrated magnetism. The eighth chapter highlights the magnetic properties of the pyrocompound Cu2As2O7. The results suggest significant spin fluctuations below TN. The thesis closes with the summary and the list of references.

Exposure of a range of dilute solutions of halogenobenzenes in fluoro-trichloromethane to 60Co y-rays at 77 K gave the corresponding cations characterised by their ESR spectra. The approximate spin-densities on the halogens were greater than predicted by comparison with neutral x-bromo radicals and increased from ca, 8% for PhF+ to 23% for PhCl+, 30% for PhBr+ and 46% for PhI+ In accord with the fall in the ionization potential for this series of halogen. For PhBr+, replacement of para hydrogen by Br, OH and SH gave a steady fall in spin-density on Br reflecting increasing n delocallsation onto the para substituent. Evidence for dimer cation formation in concentrated solutions is presented. The major species obtained from benzyl chloride suggested a preferred conformation with the chlorine close to, but not in, the plane of the benzene ring, with a significant barrier for the in-plane site, in contrast with benzyl bromide with strong hyperfine coupling to bromine [Chapters 3, 4 and 9]. Exposure of dilute solutions of Me2C(Br)C(Br)Me2 In CD3OD and MeTHF to 60Co y-rays at 77 K gave the radical Me2CC(Br)Me2. From changes in the e.s.r. spectrum of this radical, it is deduced that the stable structure is asymmetric, but that the rate of migration of bromine between the two equivalent sites becomes fast on the e.s.r. time-scale at ca. 100-1 [Chapter 6]. Evidence is given for the 1,2-intramolecular proton shift in the interconversion of isobutyl to tert-butyl radicals. The parent material was dissolved in a variety of matrices and exposed to 60Co y-rays at 77 K. The reaction was observed using an in-cavity Proportional, Integral and Differential (PID) temperature control system [Chapter 5]. A single crystal of ethyl iodide was grown and irradiated at 77 K with a a 60Co y-ray source. The spectra were orientation dependent but it was not possible to determine the principal g-values and the elements of the hyperfine tensor [Chapter 7]. 1-Bromo adamantane was dissolved in a variety of deuterated matrices and exposed to 60Co y-rays at 77 K. No firm conclusions can be drawn regarding the single proton coupling of ca. 65 G to the bromine. Exposure of dilute solutions of m-dinitrobenzene or s-trinitrobenzene in methyltetrahydrofuran to 60Co y-rays at 77 K gave two species at 77 K. One, favoured at low doses, had features characteristic of mono-anions with the unpaired electron localized on one nitro-group. At high 7-ray doses a second species with triplet state characteristics grew at the expense of the first. The average separation between the two unpaired electrons was estimated to be 5-6 A.

Due to recent progress in theory and the growing number of physical realizations, low-dimensional quantum magnets continue to receive a considerable amount of attention. They serve as model systems for investigating numerous physical phenomena in spin systems with cooperative ground states, including the field-induced evolution of the ground-state properties and the corresponding rearrangement of their low-energy excitation spectra. This work is devoted to systematic studies of recently synthesized low-dimensional quantum spin systems by means of multi-frequency high-field electron spin resonance (ESR) investigations. In the spin- 1/2 chain compound (C6H9N2)CuCl3 [known as (6MAP)CuCl3] the striking incompatibility with a simple uniform S = 1/2 Heisenberg chain model employed previously is revealed. The observed ESR mode is explained in terms of a recently developed theory, revealing the important role of the alternation and next-nearest-neighbor interactions in this compound. The excitations spectrum in copper pyrimidine dinitrate [PM·Cu(NO3)2(H2O)2]n, an S = 1/2 antiferromagnetic chain material with alternating g-tensor and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, is probed in magnetic fields up to 63 T. To study the high field behavior of the field-induced energy gap in this material, a multi-frequency pulsed-field ESR spectrometer is built. Pronounced changes in the frequency-field dependence of the magnetic excitations are observed in the vicinity of the saturation field, B ∼ Bs = 48.5 T. ESR results clearly indicate a transition from the soliton-breather to a spin-polarized state with magnons as elementary excitations. Experimental data are compared with results of density matrix renormalization group calculations; excellent agreement is found. ESR studies of the spin-ladder material (C5H12N)2CuBr4 (known as BPCB) completes the determination of the full spin Hamiltonian of this compound. ESR results provide a direct evidence for a pronounced anisotropy in this compound, that is in contrast to fully isotropic spin-ladder model employed previously for BPCB. Our observations can be of particular importance for describing the rich temperature-field phase diagram of this material. The frequency-field diagram of magnetic excitations in the quasi-two dimensional S = 1/2 compound [Cu(C4H4N2)2(HF2)]PF6 in the AFM-ordered state is studied. The AFM gap is observed directly. Using high-field magnetization and ESR results, parameters of the effective spin-Hamiltonian (exchange interaction, anisotropy and g-factor) are obtained and compared with those estimated from thermodynamic properties of this compound.

In this thesis we used ESR to investigate magnetic properties of low D vandium and copper oxides in which small quantum spins are arranged in 1D chains and 2D layers. The thesis covers five different low dimensional spin systems. They turned out to be experimental reliazation of some of the most intersiting theoritical models in the field of quantum magnetism.

Due to recent progress in theory and the growing number of physical realizations, low-dimensional quantum magnets continue to receive a considerable amount of attention. They serve as model systems for investigating numerous physical phenomena in spin systems with cooperative ground states, including the field-induced evolution of the ground-state properties and the corresponding rearrangement of their low-energy excitation spectra. This work is devoted to systematic studies of recently synthesized low-dimensional quantum spin systems by means of multi-frequency high-field electron spin resonance (ESR) investigations. In the spin- 1/2 chain compound (C6H9N2)CuCl3 [known as (6MAP)CuCl3] the striking incompatibility with a simple uniform S = 1/2 Heisenberg chain model employed previously is revealed. The observed ESR mode is explained in terms of a recently developed theory, revealing the important role of the alternation and next-nearest-neighbor interactions in this compound. The excitations spectrum in copper pyrimidine dinitrate [PM·Cu(NO3)2(H2O)2]n, an S = 1/2 antiferromagnetic chain material with alternating g-tensor and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, is probed in magnetic fields up to 63 T. To study the high field behavior of the field-induced energy gap in this material, a multi-frequency pulsed-field ESR spectrometer is built. Pronounced changes in the frequency-field dependence of the magnetic excitations are observed in the vicinity of the saturation field, B ∼ Bs = 48.5 T. ESR results clearly indicate a transition from the soliton-breather to a spin-polarized state with magnons as elementary excitations. Experimental data are compared with results of density matrix renormalization group calculations; excellent agreement is found. ESR studies of the spin-ladder material (C5H12N)2CuBr4 (known as BPCB) completes the determination of the full spin Hamiltonian of this compound. ESR results provide a direct evidence for a pronounced anisotropy in this compound, that is in contrast to fully isotropic spin-ladder model employed previously for BPCB. Our observations can be of particular importance for describing the rich temperature-field phase diagram of this material. The frequency-field diagram of magnetic excitations in the quasi-two dimensional S = 1/2 compound [Cu(C4H4N2)2(HF2)]PF6 in the AFM-ordered state is studied. The AFM gap is observed directly. Using high-field magnetization and ESR results, parameters of the effective spin-Hamiltonian (exchange interaction, anisotropy and g-factor) are obtained and compared with those estimated from thermodynamic properties of this compound.

Electronic inhomogeneities play an important role in the definition of physical properties of correlated systems. To study these inhomogeneities one has to use local probe techniques which can distinguish electronic, magnetic and structural variations at the nanoscale. In the present work the high-field electron spin resonance technique (HF-ESR) is used to probe electronic and magnetic inhomogeneities in two transition-metal element based systems with very different properties. The first system is an iron based hightemperature superconductor, namely a member of a so called 1111-family, the (La,Gd)O1−xFxFeAs compound. Our HF-ESR spectroscopy study on Gd3+ ion has revealed that this material exhibits anisotropic interaction between Gd and Fe layers, which is frustrated in the absence of an external magnetic field. Moreover, the study of the superconducting samples has shown a coexistence of a static short range magnetic order with superconductivity up to high doping levels. The second system is a lightly hole doped cubic perovskite LaCoO3. Here, our HF-ESR investigation, complemented with static magnetometry and nuclear magnetic resonance techniques, has established that the hole doping induces a strong interaction between electrons on neighboring Co ions which leads to a collective high-spin state, called a spin-state polaron. These polarons are inhomogeneously distributed in the nonmagnetic matrix. This thesis is organized in three chapters. The first chapter gives basic ideas of magnetism in solids, focusing on the localized picture. The aim of the second chapter is to introduce the method of ESR. The third chapter is dedicated to the study of 1111-type iron arsenide superconductors. In the first part X-band (9.5 GHz) ESR measurements on 2% and 5% Gd-doped LaO1−xFxFeAs are presented. In the second part a combined investigation of the properties of GdO1−xFxFeAs samples by means of thermodynamic, transport and high-field electron spin resonance methods is presented. The last, fourth chapter presents the investigation of the unexpected magnetic properties of lightly hole-doped LaCoO3 cobaltite by means of the electron spin resonance technique complemented by magnetization and nuclear magnetic resonance measurements.

Orientador: Pascoal José Giglio Pagliuso
Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Física Gleb Wataghin
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Resumo: Nesta Tese de Doutorado desenvolvemos estudos de Ressonância de Spin Eletrônico (ESR) em compostos intermetálicos, incluindo os férmions pesados ?-YbAlB4, ?-YbAlB4 and ? -YbAlxFe1-xB4, os metais ?-LuAlB4, AlB2 e o isolante Kondo, FeSi. Nossas medidas foram feitas em um espectrômetro modelo ELEXSYS-CW Bruker usando uma cavidade ressonante do tipo TE102 para a faixa de frequência em banda X (?~ 9.4GHz). A técnica de Ressonância de Spin Eletrônico aplicada aos compostos Férmions pesados foi sempre um desafio devido a presença de fortes correlações eletrônicas que tendem a alargar as linhas de ESR. Porem, nos últimos anos essa técnica ganhou renovado interesse após a descoberta do sinal de ESR na rede Kondo YbRh2Si2. Após esse trabalho, ESR voltou a ser considerada uma técnica importante para explorar os elétrons 4f e suas interações microscópicas em compostos de terras raras, uma vez que ela sonda diretamente o íon no sitio da rede. A motivação desse trabalho e, portanto, usar a técnica de ESR para entender a dinâmica dos elétrons 4f pesados em uma rede de Kondo, para os novos compostos férmions pesados ?-YbAlB4, -YbAlB4 and ?-YbAlxFe1-xB4. Neste trabalho buscou-se utilizar a técnica de ESR nesses compostos para alcançar o entendimento microscópio dos critérios que permitem a observação de um sinal de ESR em férmios pesados. Alem do mais, quando o sinal e observado, a sonda de ESR e propícia para acompanhar a evolução dos elétrons 4f em altas temperaturas para quase-partículas pesadas em baixas temperaturas. Nossas observações nos permitiram propor um cenário qualitativo baseado na existência de um modo ressonante acoplado entre ons Kondo e os elétrons de condução. Nos discutimos as características físicas gerais para que compostos férmios pesados sejam candidatos a apresentarem tal sinal de ESR. Ainda neste trabalho, estudamos os compostos intermetálicos ?-LuAlB4, AlB2 e FeSi com propriedades estruturais ou eletrônicas similares as dos compostos ?-YbAlB4, ?-YbAlB4 and ?-YbAlxFe1-xB4 em busca de uma generalizac~ao mais abrangente do cenário proposto neste trabalho
Abstract: In this work, we have performed an Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) study in intermetallic compounds including the heavy fermions ?-YbAlB4, ?-YbAlB4 and ? -YbAlxFe1-xB4, the Fermi liquid metals ?-LuAlB4, AlB2 and the Kondo insulator, FeSi. Our measurements were made on a spectrometer Bruker CW-model ELEXSYS using a resonant cavity TE102 in X Band ( ?~ 9.4GHz). The Electron Spin Resonance technique applied to heavy fermions compounds was little explored due to difficulty in finding ESR signal of Kondo ions due to the large coupling between the resonating spins and conduction electrons. However, in recent years this technique has become focus of great attention especially after the discovery of the ESR signal in a Kondo lattice YbRh2Si2. In this context, ESR was brought to the scene as one of the main techniques to bring insights to this problem since it could probe directly the f electrons of Kondo ions and their interaction with the conduction electrons. The motivation of this work is to use the ESR technique to investigate new heavy fermions compounds and to understand when these systems can present an ESR signal. In these cases ESR can help to understand more deeply how localized f electrons at high-T evolve to itinerant heavy quasi-particles in a low-T metallic state. Our observations for ?-YbAlB4, -YbAlB4 and ?-YbAlxFe1-xB4, allowed us to make some qualitative speculations about this phenomenon and within this scenario, we propose some general characteristics for heavy fermions compounds to become candidates to present ESR signal. In this work we have also measured ?-LuAlB4, AlB2 and the Kondo insulator, FeSi, in an attempt to generalize the ESR results found for ?-YbAlB4, ?-YbAlB4 and ?-YbAlxFe1-xB4 to a more broad family of compounds
Doutorado
Física
Doutor em Ciências

Spatial confinement of electrons and their interactions as well as confinement of the spin dimensionality often yield drastic changes of the electronic and magnetic properties of solids. Novel quantum transport and optical phenomena, involving electronic spin degrees of freedom in semiconductor heterostructures, as well as a rich variety of exotic quantum ground states and magnetic excitations in complex transition metal oxides that arise upon such confinements, belong therefore to topical problems of contemporary condensed matter physics. In this work electron spin systems in reduced dimensions are studied with Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) spectroscopy, a method which can provide important information on the energy spectrum of the spin states, spin dynamics, and magnetic correlations. The studied systems include quasi onedimensional spin chain materials based on transition metals Cu and Ni. Another class of materials are semiconductor heterostructures made of Si and Ge. Part I deals with the theoretical background of ESR and the description of the experimental ESR setups used which have been optimized for the purposes of the present work. In particular, the development and implementation of axial and transverse cylindrical resonant cavities for high-field highfrequency ESR experiments is discussed. The high quality factors of these cavities allow for sensitive measurements on μm-sized samples. They are used for the investigations on the spin-chain materials. The implementation and characterization of a setup for electrical detected magnetic resonance is presented. In Part II ESR studies and complementary results of other experimental techniques on two spin chain materials are presented. The Cu-based material Linarite is investigated in the paramagnetic regime above T > 2.8 K. This natural crystal constitutes a highly frustrated spin 1/2 Heisenberg chain with ferromagnetic nearest-neighbor and antiferromagnetic next-nearestneighbor interactions. The ESR data reveals that the significant magnetic anisotropy is due to anisotropy of the g-factor. Quantitative analysis of the critical broadening of the linewidth suggest appreciable interchain and interlayer spin correlations well above the ordering temperature. The Ni-based system is an organic-anorganic hybrid material where the Ni2+ ions possessing the integer spin S = 1 are magnetically coupled along one spatial direction. Indeed, the ESR study reveals an isotropic spin-1 Heisenberg chain in this system which unlike the Cu half integer spin-1/2 chain is expected to possess a qualitatively different non-magnetic singlet ground state separated from an excited magnetic state by a so-called Haldane gap. Surprisingly, in contrast to the expected Haldane behavior a competition between a magnetically ordered ground state and a potentially gapped state is revealed. In Part III investigations on SiGe/Si quantum dot structures are presented. The ESR investigations reveal narrowlines close to the free electron g-factor associated with electrons on the quantum dots. Their dephasing and relaxation times are determined. Manipulations with sub-bandgap light allow to change the relative population between the observed states. On the basis of extensive characterizations, strain, electronic structure and confined states on the Si-based structures are modeled with the program nextnano3. A qualitative model, explaining the energy spectrum of the spin states is proposed.

Orientador: Pascoal José Giglio Pagliuso
Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Fisica Gleb Wataghin
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Resumo: Sistemas de dimensões reduzidas possuem muitas aplicações tecnológicas. Há uma corrida para o desenvolvimento de dispositivos cada vez menores assim como para alcançar o controle e manipulação de dispositivos na escala nanométrica. Isto requer estudos sistemáticos de propriedades físicas em sistemas de tamanhos reduzidos. O foco deste trabalho é o estudo de Ressonância de Spin Eletrônico (ESR) em sistemas de dimensões reduzidas. Os materiais escolhidos para esse estudo foram filmes finos de GaAs, GaN dopados com Mn (GaMnAs e GaMnN), filmes finos amorfos de silício dopados com terras-raras a-Si:RE (RE = Y, Gd, Er e Lu) e nanopartículas (NPs) dopadas com impurezas magnéticas de terras-raras e metal de transição em matrizes metálicas Ag:R (R = Er, Yb e Mn) e em isolantes NaYF4:Gd. A finalidade desse estudo é explorar as propriedades magnéticas microscópicas destes sistemas. Os resultados das medidas em filmes de GaMnAs e GaMnN indicaram ausência de ferromagnetismo de longo alcance. Os experimentos de ESR mostraram ausência da relação entre largura de linha (?H) de ESR e a concentração de íons de Mn2+, mas foi observado que ?H aumenta conforme o nível de cristalinidade das amostras aumenta. Além disso, há um aumento de ?H em baixas temperaturas para os filmes com maior nível de cristalinidade, sugerindo uma correlação magnética de curto alcance entre os íons magnéticos se estabelecendo nessas amostras. Resultados similares foram encontrados para os filmes de GaMnN, exceto na medida de magnetização em função do campo magnético para GaMnN, a qual podemos observar ¿loops¿ ferromagnéticos abaixo de T ? 50 K ao contrário dos filmes de GaMnAs que não observamos nenhum ¿loop¿ ferromagnético em T = 2 K. Para outro grupo de filmes de a-Si:RE, foi estudado o efeito de redução na densidade de estados ligações pendentes (D0) nos filmes Si dopados com diferentes espécies de terras-raras (RE¿s) em função das diferentes concentrações. De acordo com nossos resultados, a dopagem com RE reduz a intensidade do sinal de ESR dos estados D0 com uma dependência exponencial das concentrações de RE¿s. As NPs de Ag:R e de NaYF4:Gd foram preparadas pelo método químico. Nós observamos uma forma de linha de ESR tipicamente Lorentziana consistente com os estados fundamentais dos íons de Er3+, Yb3+ e Mn2+ em simetria cúbica. O fator g encontrado para esses íons nas NPs é muito próximo ao observado em sistemas isolantes cúbicos, ao contrário do encontrado em metais, onde é observado um deslocamento de g. Além disso, não foi possível observar a relaxação Korringa para as linhas de ESR de Er3+, Yb3+ e Mn2+ no sistema de NPs que é observada, tipicamente, em metais. Logo, esses resultados nos levam a acreditar que a interação de troca (Jfs) entre os momentos localizados dos íons magnéticos (ML) e os elétrons de condução (c-e) está ausente no sistema de NPs de Ag:R, indicando que a natureza desta interação deveria ser reexaminada na escala nanométrica. Para as NPs de NaYF4:Gd, o controle do tamanho da partícula foi adquirido segundo a quantidade de rps = precursor/surfactantes. Não foi observada nenhuma evidência de cluster de Gd e observamos o espectro de ESR com as mesmas características já observadas no sistema bulk : três linhas de ressonância, sendo essas linhas com origens bem controvérsias, das quais não sabemos se é de origem de um campo cristalino de combinações de simetria cúbica com tetragonal ou mesmo rômbica ou mesmo de sítios de Gd3+ com simetrias mais baixas
Abstract: Reduced dimensions systems present many potencial technological applications. There is great interest in the development of small scale devices as well as in the control and manipulation at the nanoscale and in study of finite size on physical properties. The main goal of this work is the study of Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) in systems of reduced dimensions. The materials chosen for this study were thin films of GaAs, GaN doped with Mn (GaMnAs and GaMnN), amorphous silicon thin films doped with rare-earth a-Si:RE (RE = Y, Gd, Er and Lu) and nanoparticles (NPs) doped with magnetic impurities such as of rare earth and transition metal doped Ag:R (R = Er, Yb and Mn) and insulating NaYF4:Gd. The purpose of this study is to explore the microscopic magnetic properties of these systems. The results of the measurements in GaMnAs and GaMnN films indicated absence of long range ferromagnetism. the ESR results reveal no relationship between ESR linewidth (?H) and the Mn2+ concentration in this films. Instead, a broadening of the ESR ?H was found as a function of the increasing in the crystallinity level of the films. Furthermore, for the films with higher level of crystallinity, a significant broadening of the ESR ?H is observed as the temperature is decreased, suggesting the development of short-range magnetic correlations between the Mn2+ ions. Similar results were found for films GaMnN, except in the magnetization versus magnetic field experiments for GaMnN, which we could observe ferromagnetic loops in T < 50 K, in constract of GaMnAs films where no ferromagnetic loop in T = 2 K was found for all measured films. For the other group of films, a-Si, we studied the suppresion effects in the density of dangling bonds species D0 states as function concentration for different Rare-Earth (RE¿s) species. According to our data, the RE-doping reduces the ESR signal intensity of the D0 states with an exponential dependence on the Re¿s concentrations. Ag:R and NaYF4:Gd NPs were prepared by chemical method. We observed a typical Lorentzian line-shape ESR lines for all studied dopants (R = Er, Yb e Mn). The gfactor found for Er3+, Yb3+ e Mn2+ in the nanoparticles is very close to g-value found in ground-states of these ions in insulating cubic systems, in contrast that what was found in metals, where it is observed a g-shift for the metallic system. Furthermore, it was not possible to observe the Korringa relaxation for the ESR lines of Er3+, Yb3+ e Mn2+ in the NPs system typically observed in metals. Therefore, the results suggest that the exchange interaction (Jfs) between localized magnetic moments (ML) and conduction electrons (c-e) is absent in Ag:R NPs, indicating that the nature of this interaction needs to be reexamined at the nanoscale range. For NaYF4:Gd NPs, the particle control size was obtained by the amount of rps = precursor/surfactant. There was no evidence of Gd clusters in our results and we found the same characteristics observed in the bulk system: three resonance lines, with the controversies origins. It is still unknown the source of crystalline field of cubic symmetry with tetragonal combinations or orthorhombic or even Gd3+ sites with lower symmetries
Doutorado
Física da Matéria Condensada
Doutor em Ciências

Cristais naturais de pumpelita Ca8Al8(Mg,Fe,Mn,Al)[(SiO4)4/(Si2O7)4/(OH)8(H2O, OH)4]), provenientes da mina de Brejui, município de Currais Novos, Rio Grande do Norte, foram investigados através das técnicas de termoluminescência (TL), absorção óptica (AO) e ressonância paramagnética eletrônica (EPR) com o intuito de entender os efeitos da radiação ionizante e de recozimento em altas temperaturas sobre estes cristais. As curvas TL obtidas apresentaram cinco picos, 90, 145, 220, 315 e 390 oC, após terem sido irradiadas para uma taxa de quecimento de 4 °C/s. A decomposição espectral da luz TL foi obtida para todos os picos e presentou uma emissão centrada em 575 nm e largura à meia altura de 75 nm e outras duas emissões menores em 470 nm e 660 nm indicando que o processo TL pode possuir mais de um centro de recombinação, independentemente das temperaturas dos picos. Em um segundo momento, foi investigado o efeito de diferentes tratamentos térmicos pré-irradiação (500, 600, 700, 800 e 900 °C) nas propriedades TL dos cristais. Somente a intensidade das emissões mostrou ser dependente da temperatura destes tratamentos térmicos, a posição dos quatro picos não foi alterada. Os picos em 220 e 390 °C apresentaram grande sensibilidade ao tratamento térmico. Uma análise termogravimétrica mostrou que entre 650 e 800 °C houve grande perda de massa envolvida num processo endotérmico, sugerindo uma provável mudança de estado. O espectro de ressonância paramagnética eletrônica mostra um sinal muito intenso que se estende de 1000 a 6000 Gauss e seis linhas típicas hiperfinas de Mn2+ entre 3000 e 4000 Gauss. O sinal EPR gigante é devido à interação dipolo (magnético) dipolo magnético) de Fe3+. Os espectros de AO de amostras recozidas em 600 °C, 700 °C e 900 °C mostram num resultado muito interessante, a banda em torno de 1060 nm, que, é devida a Fe2+ muda pouco com o tratamento térmico até 800 °C, mas, entre 800 °C e 900 °C a banda decresce. Nessa região de temperatura, ocorre a reação: Fe2+ temperaturae + Fe3+ Fe2+ perde um elétron e se torna Fe3+. Este processo é, também, responsável pelo aumento muito grande da intensidade EPR na região de g = 2,0, em amostras que sofreram recozimentos em temperaturas acima de 850 °C, Nestas temperaturas, a coloração da pumpelita é também afetada. Todos os picos TL sofrem fotoesvaziamento (bleaching), quando a amostra irradiada é exposta a luz UV.
Natural mineral of pumpellyite, one of the members of epidote group has been investigated. With chemical formula (Ca8Al8(Mg,Fe,Mn,Al)[(SiO4)4/(Si2O7)4/(OH)8(H2O, OH)4]), the sample here studied was collected from Brejui Mine, Currais Novos County, state of Rio Grande do Norte. The work was aimed to investigate its thermoluminescence (TL), color centers and electron paramagnetic properties. Annealing at high temperatures, heavy irradiation and UV irradiation techniques have been used. The physical properties of interest are due to the elements composing crystal structure such as Si, Al, Mg, Fe and Mn, however among about twenty elements that can be considered impurities; only Na, K and Cr participate. The TL glow curve obtained from 600 °C for one hour pre-annealed and then - irradiated sample has shown 90, 145, 220, 275 and 390 °C peaks. A heating rate of 4 °C has been used for TL read out. The lowest 90 °C peak is very unstable, however, it is by far the most sensitive one to the irradiation; at 50 Gy -dose its peak height is almost 100 times larger. Among others, the 315 °C peak grows faster. Heat treatments before irradiation increase the sensitivity of TL peaks slowly from 500 to 800 °C, but such increase becomes very large above 800 °C. For example the 390 °C peak sensitivity increases by a factor 100 on going from 500 C to 900 °C annealing. The spectral analysis of the emitted TL light has shown that there are 470, 575 and 600 nm bands indicating that there are at least three recombination centers. The 575 nm is by far the dominating one. The UV light bleaching has shown that all the TL peaks decay fast up to 10 minutes exposure and a residual TL is left after long time exposure. The optical absorption spectrum is characterized by four absorption bands in the visible region, one strong and broad band around 1060 nm and several in near IR region. The 1060 nm band is due to Fe2+ which around 850 900 °C annealing decreases indicating that Fe2+ liberates electrons leaving Fe3+. The EPR spectrum is dominated by Fe3+ spin spin interaction. Mn2+ six hyperfine lines superpose Fe line around g = 2,0. Under 850 900 °C heating, that broad Fe3+ lines becomes stronger and broader due to Fe2+ changing to Fe3+. The EPR intensity of 800 °C annealed sample and then irradiated to 1 kGy - dose increases with microwave power, but start saturation around 30 to 40 mW power.

Molecule-based magnets (molecular magnets) have attracted much interest in recent decades both from an experimental and from a theoretical point of view, not only because of their interesting physical effects, but also because of their potential applications: e.g., molecular spintronics, quantum computing, high density information storage, and nanomedicine. Molecular magnets are at the very bottom of the possible size of nanomagnets. On reducing the size of objects down to the nanoscale, the coexistence of classical properties and quantum properties in these systems may be observed. In additional, molecular magnets exist with structural variability and permit selective substitution of the ligands in order to alter their magnetic properties. Therefore, these characteristics make such molecules suitable candidates for studying molecular magnetism. They can be used as model systems for a detailed understanding of interplay between structural and magnetic properties of them in order to optimize desired magnetic properties. This thesis considers the investigation of magnetic properties of several new transition metal molecular compounds via different experimental techniques (continuous wave electron spin resonance (CW ESR), pulse ESR, high-field/high-frequency ESR (HF-ESR) and static magnetization techniques). The first studied compounds were mono- and trinuclear Cu(II)-(oxamato, oxamidato)/bis(oxamidato) type compounds. First, all components of the g-tensor and the tensors of onsite ACu and transferred AN HF interactions of mononuclear Cu(II)- bis(oxamidato) compounds have been determined from CW ESR measurements at 10 GHz and at room temperature and pulse ELDOR detected NMR measurements at 35 GHz and at 20 K. The spin density distributions of the mononuclear compounds have been calculated from the experimentally obtained HF tensors. The magnetic exchange constants J of their corresponding trinuclear compounds were determined from susceptibility measurements versus temperature. Our discussion of the spin density distribution of the mononuclear compounds together with the results of the magnetic characterization of their corresponding trinuclear compounds show that the spin population of the mononuclear compounds is in interplay with the J values of their corresponding trinuclear compounds. The second studied compounds were polynuclear Cu(II)-(bis)oxamato compounds with ferrocene and ferrocenium ligands. The magnetic properties of these compounds were studied by susceptibility measurements versus temperature to determine J values. In addition, the ESR technique is used to investigate the magnetic properties of the studied compounds because they contain two different magnetic ions and because only the ESR technique can selectively excite different electron spin species. These studies together with geometries of the ferrocenium ligands determined by crystallographic studies indicate that the magnetic interaction between a central Cu(II) and a Fe(III) ions changed from the antiferromagnetic coupling to the ferromagnetic coupling when a stronger distortion of the axial symmetry in the feroccenium cation exists. Therefore, the degree of the distortion of the feroccenium cation is a control parameter for the sign of the interaction between the central Cu(II) ion and the Fe(III) spins of the studied compounds. The last two studied molecular magnets were a binuclear Ni(II) compound (Ni(II)-dimer) and a cube-like tetranuclear compound with a [Fe4O4]-cube core (Fe4-cube). HF-ESR measurements enabled us to determine the g-factor, the sign, and the absolute value of the magnetic anisotropy parameters. Using this information together with static magnetization measurements, the J value and the magnetic ground state of the studied compounds have been determined. In Ni(II)-dimer, two Ni(II) ions, each having a spin S = 1, are coupled antiferromagnetically that leads to a ground state with total spin Stot = 0. An easy plane magnetic anisotropy with a preferable direction for each Ni(II) ion is found. For Fe4-cube, a ground state with total spin Stot = 8 has been determined. The analysis of the frequency dependence and temperature dependence of HF-ESR lines reveals an easy axis magnetic anisotropy (Dcube = -22 GHz (-1 K)) corresponding to an energy barrier of U = 64 K for the thermal relaxation of the magnetization. These results indicate that Fe4-cube is favorable to show single molecular magnet (SMM) behavior.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2002.
Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains xi, 121 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 113-115).

Doutoramento em Física
Esta tese apresenta um estudo experimental de sistemas de spins fornecidos por dopantes electrónicos e por defeitos capturadores de carga em nanocristais (NCs) semiconductores, por meio de técnicas de ressonância magnética. Aqui, investigámos problemas que têm efeitos limitadores de performance nas propriedades de NCs semiconductores para o seu uso em aplicações tecnológicas. Nomeadamente, estudámos a dopagem electrónica de NCs semiconductores. A dopagem é crítica para controlar o comportamento de semiconductores, que de outra forma seriam isoladores. Investigámos também defeitos capturadores de carga, que podem ter um impacto negativo na conductividade de NCs semiconductores ao capturar portadores de carga em estados electrónicos deslocalizados de NCs. Para além disso, abordámos a origem da anisotropia magnética em NCs de materiais diamagnéticos. Nesta tese, reportamos investigações usando medidas de ressonância paramagnética electrónica (RPE) quantitativa, dizendo respeito à eficiência de dopagem electrónica de Si NCs com átomos de P e à sua dependência com o ambiente envolvendo os NCs. Das medidas de RPE quantitativas, estimamos eficiências de dopagem nos NCs que são consistentes com a incorporação da maioria dos dopantes P como dadores substitucionais nos NCs. Observamos também que a eficiência de dopagem dos NCs varia em várias ordens de grandeza dependendo do ambiente envolvendo os NCs, devido a uma forte compensação dos dadores por moléculas absorbidas na superfície dos NCs. Usando espectroscopia RPE dependente da temperatura, mostramos também que a energia de ionização dos dopantes P em Si NCs aumenta relativamente ao seu correspondente cristal macroscópico devido a confinamento. Usamos espectroscopia RPE dependente da temperatura para estudar a interacção entre múltiplos dopantes incorporados num único Si NC e o seu impacto na estrutura electrónica destes NCs. Monitorizámos experimentalmente a interacção de troca em pares de dadores P (dímeros de dadores) em Si NCs através de um desvio da ressonância magnética do seu estado tripleto em relação ao paramagnetismo de Curie. Mostrámos que a interacção de troca entre dadores próximos entre si pode ser bem descrita pela teoria de massa efectiva, permitindo o cálculo de muitas configurações de dopantes e permitindo a consideração de efeitos estatísticos cruciais em conjuntos de nanocristais. Descobrimos que dímeros de dadores induzem estados discretos num NC, e que a sua separação energética difere em até três ordens de grandeza para dímeros colocados aleatoriamente num conjunto de NCs devido a uma enorme dependência da energia de troca na configuração do dímero. Investigámos também sistemas de spins induzidos por defeitos capturadores de carga e como estes defeitos podem afectar a dopagem de NCs. Identificamos a presença de dois estados de carga de um defeito em NCs de CdSe usando espectroscopia RPE combinada com a afinação electrónica de NCs através de dopagem com Ag induzida quimicamente. A partir de de RPE foto-induzido, mostramos que estes defeitos têm um papel central na fixação do nível de Fermi em conjuntos de NCs. Através da análise da dependência do sinal de RPE dos defeitos com a concentração de dopantes de Ag, mostramos também que os defeitos actuam como capturadores efectivos de electrões nos NCs. Do RPE dependente da temperatura, estimamos um limite inferior para a energia de ionização dos defeitos estudados. Com base nas características do espectro RPE dos defeitos observados, propomos que está associado a lacunas de Se com o estado paramagnético sendo o estado positivo do defeito. Para além disso, mostramos que as interacções magnéticas entre spins associados a defeitos nos NCs podem induzir efeitos de anisotropia magnética em conjuntos de NCs que não são esperados acontecer no cristal macroscópico correspondente. Usando espectroscopia de ressonância ferromagnética (RFM) com dependência angular, medimos a anisotropia magnética em conjuntos de aleatórios de NCs de CdSe através da gravação do espectro de ressonância magnética para várias orientações do campo magnético externo. As dependências angulares do campo ressonante são diferente para conjuntos aparentemente similares de NCs de CdSe. Mostramos que a forma e amplitude da variação angular do RFM pode ser bem descrita po um modelo simples que toma em consideração as interacções dipolo-dipolo entre dipolos localizados na superfície dos NCs. Os dipolos na superfície podem originar de ligações pendentes em sítios da superfície que não estão passivados por ligantes. Dos nossos cálculos, descobrimos que para diferentes conjuntos aleatórios de NCs a força da anisotropia magnética induzida por interacções dipolo-dipolo pode tomar valores abrangendo quatro ordens de grandeza, dependendo do arranjo específico dos NCs no conjunto e da distribuição específica dos dipolos na superfície de cada NC. Esta enorme variabilidade pode justificar a disparidade de anisotropias magnéticas observada nas nossas experiências.
This thesis presents an experimental study of systems of spins provided by electronic dopants and by charge trapping defects in semiconductor NCs, by means of magnetic resonance spectroscopy techniques. Here, we have investigated issues that have performance-limiting effects on the properties of semiconductor NCs for their use in technological applications. Namely, we have studied the electronic doping of semiconductor NCs. Doping is critical to control the behavior of semiconductors, which would otherwise be electrically insulating. We have further investigated charge trapping defects in semiconductor NCs, which can have a negative impact on the conductivity of semiconductor NCs by capturing charge carriers from delocalized electronic states of the NCs. Moreover, we addressed the origin of magnetic anisotropy in NCs of diamagnetic materials. In this thesis, we report investigations using quantitative electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) measurements concerning the efficiency of electronic doping of Si NCs with P atoms and its dependence on the environment surrounding the NCs. From quantitative EPR measurements, we estimate doping efficiencies in the NCs that are consistent with the incorporation of most P dopants as substitutional donors in the NCs. We further observe that the doping efficiency of the NCs varies by several orders of magnitude depending on the NCs surrounding environment due to a strong compensation of donors by molecules adsorbed to the NCs surface. Using temperature-dependent EPR spectroscopy, we further show that the ionization energy of P dopants in Si NCs increases with respect to their bulk counterpart due to confinement. We use temperature-dependent EPR spectroscopy to study the interaction between multiple P dopants incorporated in a single Si NC and its impact on the electronic structure of these NCs. We experimentally probe the exchange interaction in pairs of P donors (donor dimers) in Si NCs via a deviation of their triplet-state magnetic resonance from Curie paramagnetism. We showed that the exchange coupling of closely spaced donors can be well described by effective mass theory, enabling the calculation of many dopant configurations and allowing the consideration of statistical effects crucial in NC ensembles. We find that donor dimers induce discrete states in a NC, and that their energy splitting differs by up to three orders of magnitude for randomly placed dimers in a NC ensemble due to an enormous dependence of the exchange energy on the dimer configuration. We also investigate systems of spins induced by charge trapping defects and how these defects can affect the doping of NCs. We identify the presence of two charge states of a defect in CdSe NCs using EPR spectroscopy, combined with electronic tuning of NCs via chemically induced Ag doping. From light-induced EPR, we show that these defects have a central role on Fermi level pinning of NC ensembles. By analyzing the dependence of the EPR signal of the defects on the concentration of Ag dopants, we further demonstrate that the defects act as effective electron traps in the NCs. From temperaturedependent EPR, we estimate a lower limit for the ionization energy of the studied defects. Based on the characteristics of the EPR spectrum of the observed defect, we propose that it is associated to Se vacancies with the paramagnetic state being the positively charged state of the defect. Moreover, we show that magnetic interactions between spins associated to defects in NCs can induce magnetic anisotropy effects in NCs ensembles that are not expected to occur in their bulk counterpart. Using angulardependent ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) spectroscopy, we measure the magnetic anisotropy in different random ensembles of CdSe NCs by recording magnetic resonance spectra for various orientations of the external magnetic field. The observed angular dependencies of resonant field are different for apparently similar CdSe NC ensembles. We show that the shape and amplitude of the FMR angular variation can be well described by a simple model that considers magnetic dipole-dipole interactions between dipoles located at the NCs surface. The surface dipoles may originate from dangling bonds on surface sites that are not passivated by ligands. From our calculations, we find that for different random ensembles of NCs the strength of the magnetic anisotropy induced by dipole-dipole interactions may take values spanning four orders of magnitude, depending on the specific arrangement of the NCs in the ensemble and the specific distribution of the surface dipoles in each NC. This huge variability may justify the disparity of magnetic anisotropies observed in our experiments.

L’ensemble de l’étude in vivo réalisée sur souris porteuses de glioblastome U87 démontre la faisabilité du ciblage magnétique pour accumuler les magnétoliposomes superparamagnétiques, ou MFLs, au niveau du glioblastome, tout en préservant le reste du tissu cérébral sain. L’étude révèle que le bénéfice apporté par l’action d’un gradient de champ magnétique produit par un aimant extracorporel repose sur un effet EPR (« enhanced permeation and retention » effect) amplifié. Les résultats sont étayés par la combinaison de plusieurs techniques (IRM, RPE, microscopie confocale de fluorescence, microscopie électronique). Concernant les mécanismes de transport empruntés par les magnétoliposomes pour atteindre les cellules tumorales, la voie d’endocytose non spécifique s’apparentant à un processus de macropinocytose est pressentie. Dans l’optique d’une application thérapeutique par hyperthermie, la capacité d’échauffement des magnétoliposomes a été pour la première fois explorée. Les résultats prouvent un comportement thermique des magnétoliposomes compatible avec les conditions d’un traitement par hyperthermie. Enfin, dans le cadre d’une étude portant sur le développement de cancers mécano-induits, l’application des magnétoliposomes a été élargie un autre organe non étudié à ce jour, le côlon. Ces travaux illustrent la problématique de la vectorisation magnétique au sein d’un organe situé dans une région interne de l’organisme
First, the in vivo study on U87-glioblastoma bearing mice demonstrates the ability of magnetic targeting to accumulate magnetic-fluid-loaded liposomes (MFLs) into glioblastoma while sparing the rest of the healthy brain tissue. The enhancement of liposome local concentration by applying a magnetic field gradient produced by an external magnet is based on an amplified EPR effect (“enhanced permeation and retention” effect). The results were supported by combining several techniques (MRI, ESR, confocal fluorescence microscopy, electron microscopy). The investigations concerning the mechanisms of transport of the magnetoliposomes to reach the tumor cells suggest a non-specific endocytose pathway, presumably macropinocytosis. Secondly, in the context of a therapeutic application by hyperthermia the heat capacity of MFLs was explored. The results showed that the thermal behaviour of the magnetoliposomes depends on the containment state of the iron oxide nanocrystals and is compatible with the conditions of hyperthermia treatment. Finally, as part of a study concerning the development of mechanically induced cancers, application of MFLs was extended to target another organ not yet studied: the colon. This work especially illustrates the potential and related limits of magnetic targeting towards an organ located in an inner region of the body

Orientador: Pascoal José Giglio Pagliuso
Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Fisica Gleb Wataghin
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Resumo: Nesta Dissertação desenvolvemos estudos de Ressonância de Spin Eletrônico (ESR) em monocristais dos compostos tipo férmions pesados YbR h2Si2 e YbAlB4. No caso do sistem YbRh2Si2, exploraramos os experimentos de ESR para três bandas de frequência existentes em nosso laboratório (n = 4,1 GHz (Banda-S), n = 9,4 GHz (Banda-X) e n = 34,0 GHz (Banda-Q)), o que situa o campo de ressonância da linha de ESR em diferentes regimes do diagrama de fase do YbRh2Si2, onde as fases antiferromagnética (AFM), líquido de Fermi (FL) e não-líquido de Fermi (NFL) podem ser encontradas. Foram investigados efeitos de campo cristalino e mudanças da dinâmica de spin dos elétrons 4¦ do Yb, para as diferentes bandas, e também para monocristais de YbR h2Si2 dopados com Lu e crescidos em uxo de Zn. Nossos resultados sugerem que o sinal de ESR observado em YbRh2Si2 consiste em um modo acoplado entre os 4f do Yb3+ e os elétrons de condução, em um regime tipo bottleneck com presença de interações antiferromagnéticas. Para o sistema YbAlB4, realizamos experimentos de ESR em banda-X nas duas fases iso-estequiométricas b -YbAl B4 e - a -YbAlB4. Para as amostras de b - YbAlB4 encontramos um comportamento interessante do sinal de ESR que apresenta características de uma ressonância de elétrons de condução (CESR) a altas temperaturas e adquire propriedades do íon de Yb3+ a baixas temperaturas. Tal dualidade não foi observada na fase a - YbAlB4. Nós discutiremos uma possível correlação entre o espectro de ESR observado nos dois sistemas férmions pesados que se situam em lados opostos de um ponto crítico quântico (Quantum Critical Point - QCP) em seus diagramas de fase. Essa correlação permitiu uma especulação sobre origem desse sinal de ESR em compostos férmions pesados, na qual a proximidade ao QCP desenvolve um papel crucial para o comportamento do espectro de ESR observado nessa classe de compostos.
Abstract: In this work we have performed Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) experiments on single crystals of YbR h2Si2 and YbAlB4 heavy fermion compounds. For YbRh2Si2, we explore the ESR measurements at three frequency bands (n = 4,1 GHz (S-Band), n = 9,4 GHz (X-Band) e n = 34,0 GHz (Q-Band)) which places the ESR resonance field within different regimes in the phase diagram of YbRh2Si2 where antiferromagnetic (AFM), Fermi liquid (FL) and non Fermi liquid (NFL) phases could be found. We have also explored the effects of crystal field and spin dynamics of Yb3+ for these different bands and also as a function of Lu-doping and single crystal growth methods. Our results indicate that the ESR signal found YbRh2Si2 behave such a Kondo coupled mode in a bottleneck-like regime with the presence of antiferromagnetic interactions. For YbAlB4, we have performed X-band experiments for single crystals the two different phases b -YbAl B4 and a -YbAlB4. For b -YbAlB4, we found a remarkable ESR signal that behaves as a conduction electron spin resonance (CESR) at high temperatures and acquires characteristics of the Yb3+ local moment ESR at low temperature. This behavior was not found in the a -YbAlB4. The striking and unique dual behavior observed in the same ESR spectra of b -YbAl B4 - a -YbAlB4 associated to the ESR results found for a -YbAlB4, YbRh2Si2 allow us to propose a qualitative scenario that may explain the origin of the ESR signal in HF systems. We speculate that for HF systems a strongly coupled 4¦ and ce give origin to Kondo coupled ESR modes with may behave as CESR or LM ESR, depending on the strength of Jfs. Moreover, HF systems near a QCP may have propitious conditions to present such a signal.
Mestrado
Física da Matéria Condensada
Mestre em Física

The function of a biological molecule is linked to its underlying structure, and determination of that structure can lead to significant insights into its function and how this is performed. There already exist a number of important tools in structural biology, however, the pulsed electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) technique called pulsed electron-electron double resonance (PELDOR) is the only one capable of accurately measuring isolated distances between attached spin-labels over the range of ~2 to 10 nm, a range which is usually impossible to measure directly with other techniques such as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and X-ray crystallography. This can provide constraints for refinement of structures determined from NMR and X-ray crystallography, or insights into protein docking and protein mechanics. With recent developments in EPR spectrometer instrumentation and spin-labelling it has become possible to conduct PELDOR experiments in the high field EPR regime ( > 3 Tesla) where measurement sensitivity is increased. These experiments can reveal relative orientations of nitroxide spin-labels in complement to their separation, however, analysis and interpretation of these results has been difficult to perform routinely. This thesis presents a characterisation of the high field spectrometer HiPER showing that it is well suited when optimised for making PELDOR experiments. To perform analysis of PELDOR signals from this spectrometer custom signal simulation code has been written. Two case studies are presented. The first relates to the use of the Rx spin label with the PELDOR experiment to derive orientation information from the spin labelled protein Vps75. The recently developed spin label Rx is proposed to attach more rigidly to underlying structure, offering potentially increased accuracy in determination of structure constraints and additional information about relative orientations of different structural features. An orientation selective PELDOR study is presented which compares molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of spin labels attached to sites on the α-helix of the protein Vps75. This has shown great potential for utilising the Rx spin label in a repeatable way on α-helix residue sites for determination of structural constraints. The second case relates to orientation selective PELDOR measurements of spin labelled oligomeric membrane protein structures. High field PELDOR offers great potential in increasing measurement sensitivity and accuracy of structural constraints in oligomeric proteins. A methodology of signal analysis for this class of protein is presented along with measurements of the membrane channel protein MscS. Difficulties of PELDOR measurement on these labelled proteins are discussed and observed relaxation of the spin echo, relevant to pulsed EPR experiments, are investigated and possible mechanisms are presented.

The biological function of macromolecules such as protein, DNA, and RNA depends on their folding and on the relative movements of domains with dimensions of a few nanometers. This length scale can be accessed by distance measurements between paramagnetic spin centers employing Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) pulsed dipolar spectroscopy (PDS) techniques. In order to use this spectroscopic methods, the biomolecule has to contain either stable or transient paramagnetic centers, which can be metal ions or clusters, amino acid radicals, or organic cofactor radicals. If the biomolecule is diamagnetic, it can be spin-labeled with nitroxides or a diamagnetic metal may be substituted with a paramagnetic one. Nitroxides are the most employed spin probes in PDS, especially for structural studies in proteins were they can be attached to specific sites following a protocol of mutagenesis and site-directed spin labeling (SDSL) on cysteine residues. However, the introduction of a spin label can modify the structure around the labeling site and in some regions it may even interfere with the correct folding. For this reason, exploiting endogenous probes i.e. paramagnetic centers which are naturally present in the protein, represents an primary task in PDS. Indeed, PSD has been entatively performed on various classes of proteins naturally containing metal base-prosthetic groups such as and low-spin ferric heme centers, iron-sulfur cluster, Mn clusters for which mainly the ¢mS Æ §1/2 transition can be selected. Utilizing endogenous probes for EPR detection only causes minimal functional perturbation to the macromolecules. Another advantage is that they are firmly anchored in the protein and, therefore, are not fraught with the problem of flexible linkers as the commonly used spin labels. In recent years photoexcited triplet state of porphyrin has been introduced in the selection of spin labels for PDS applications. In their ground state, these chromophores are diamagnetic and thus EPR-silent, but, upon laser photoexcitation, their triplet state can be populated via intersystem crossing from the lowest excited singlet state, generating in this way the paramagnetic center. The inter-system crossing mechanism makes the population of the triplet sublevels different from the Boltzmann distribution, significantly enhancing the intensity of their EPR signals. Moreover porphyrin-derivative groups are suitable to be exploited as endogenous probes because are present in numerous systems such as heme-protein and photosynthetic proteins. The orthogonal labeling method, based on the use of spectroscopically nonidentical labels which can be addressed selectively in the EPR experiment, is attracting increasing interest in the spectroscopic community. Triplet states work very efficiently as orthogonal labels, adding to the spectroscopic selectivity the advantage of behaving as photoinduced spin probes. This feature allows to perform PDS in the presence of light excitation to measure intramolecular triplet-nitroxide distances or in the absence of light excitation revealing intermolecular nitroxide-nitroxide interactions. While the feasibility of the PDS experiment had already been demonstrated for a photoexcited porphyrin moiety interacting with a nitroxide radical [Di Valentin, M.; Albertini, M.; Zurlo, E.; Gobbo, M. and Carbonera, D. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2014, 136, 6582 -6585], the accuracy of the new labeling approach for distance determination, and the theoretical frame describing the behavior of polarized high-spin systems for application in dipolar techniques were still laking. In this thesis work a complete spectroscopic and theoretical characterization of photoexcited triplet state probes has been carried out. The reliability and versatility of such spin labels has been tested employing different dipolar pulse schemes and exploiting diverse chromophores for the photogeneration of the paramagnetic center, both in peptide-based model systems and in protein belonging to different classes. The study has been completed with an exhaustive theoretical description. The reliability and the accuracy of the new labeling approach has been demonstrated by measuring the dipolar traces of a spectroscopic ruler composed by a-helix peptides of increasing length, labeled with a porphyrin chromophore, that upon photoexcitation gives the EPR-active species, and a nitroxide artificial amino acid. The good correlation between the distances obtained by experimental PDS data and calculation, is used to asses the accuracy of the new labeling approach. In PDS, there are different pulse sequences that exploits diverse mechanisms to induce the dipolar oscillations. Such pulse schemes have been tested on the triplet state in order to classify the performances of the various PDS techniques with the novel labeling approach. The availability of different light-induced PDS sequences increases the versatility of triplet state probes allowing to select case by case the pulse scheme that guarantees the best signal-to-noise ratio. The new labeling approach has been extended to two paradigmatic proteins: the light-harvesting complex Peridinin-Chlorophyll a-Protein fromAmphidinium Cartarae and the human Neuroglobin belonging to the globins family where the endogenous prosthetic groups have been exploited to photo-generated the triplet state. In the photosynthetic protein the dipolar trace arising from the interaction between the triplet state of one of the carotenoids in the photoactive site and a nitroxide, introduced via site-directed spin labeling, have been measured. This allowed to identify the pigment involved in the photoprotective mechanism and demonstrated that, not only porphyrin-derivatives, but also other chromophores can be used as spin probes. In human neuroglobin the Zn-substitution of the heme has allowed to populate the triplet state of the Zn protoporphyrin IX and successfully measure the dipolar trace proving the applicability of this labeling procedure on the class of hemeproteins. The full characterization of triplet state probes has been completed with a theoretical study based on the density matrix formalism. First, the analytic formula describing the modulation of the dipolar trace for a simplified radical-triplet state system has been obtained, highlighting a time an analogous dependence to the radical-radical case. Subsequently, a program for time-domain numerical calculation of radical-triplet state dipolar traces has been implemented and employed for a quantitative characterization of triplet state probes in PDS.
Il ruolo di molte macromolecole di interesse biologico come ad esempio proteine ed acidi nucleici, dipende dalla loro struttura tridimensionale e da movimenti di domini dell’ordine di pochi nanometri. La spettroscopia paramagnetica elettronica (EPR) ed in particolare le tecniche di spettroscopia impulsata dipolare (PDS) costituiscono lo strumento ideale per studiare sistemi di quest’ordine di grandezza. Tuttavia, per poter utilizzare tecniche PDS nella caratterizzazione di bio-macromolecole, queste devono contenere centri paramagnetici come ad esempio ioni o cluster metallici, oppure centri radicalici. Nel caso in cui il sistema sia diamagnetico è necessario quindi inserire delle sonde paramagnetiche o sostituire eventuali metalli diamagnetici con altri metalli EPR-attivi. I radicali nitrossidi sono le sonde di spin più comunemente impiegate nella spettroscopia dipolare, soprattutto per studi in proteina in cui, per introdurre di tali sonde, è possibile seguire un protocollo di mutagenesi sito-specifica seguita da spin labeling diretto alle cisteine. L’inserimento di sonde di spin tuttavia può causare forti modifiche strutturali alla macromolecola o addirittura interferire con il suo corretto folding. Per questo motivo, quando possibile si tenta di sfruttare centri paramagnetici che siano naturalmente presenti in proteina. Sono stati infatti effettuati diversi studi di spettroscopia dipolare in metallo-proteine sfruttando la transizione ¢mS Æ §1/2 del gruppo prostetico contenente il centro metallico. L’utilizzo di tali gruppi prostetici non causa alcuna alterazione strutturale alla molecola, inoltre, diversamente da molte sonde endogene, questi sono strettamente ancorati all’intorno proteico e forniscono quindi informazioni strutturali più accurate. La porfirina in stato di tripletto fotoeccitato è stata di recente introdotta tra la collezione di sonde di spin utilizzabili nelle tecniche PDS. Nel loro stato fondamentale le porfirine sono diamagnetiche e pertanto EPR silenti, ma in seguito a fotoeccitazione laser possono popolare tramite inter-system crossing lo stato di tripletto eccitato a più bassa energia, divetando in tal modo EPR-attive. Il popolamento tramite inter-system crossing fa si che la popolazione dei sottolivelli di tripletto devii dalla distribuzione di Boltzmann, aumentando enormemente l’intensità del segnale EPR di tale specie che vengono per questo motivo definite "polarizzate". Inoltre derivati porfirinici sono presenti in numerosi sistemi naturali, come ad esempio le emoproteine o le proteine conivolte in processi fotosintetici, e ciò li rende particolarmente interessanti per l’utilizzo in spettroscopia dipolare in quanto possono essere sfruttati come sonde endogene. Il labeling ortogonale, basato sull’impiego di sonde di spin spettroscopicalmente distinte che possono essere eccitate selettivamente durante un esperimento EPR, rappresenta un approccio particolarmente vantaggioso nelle tecniche PDS. Gli stati di tripletto fotoeccitato hanno un valore aggiunto come sonde ortogonali perchè aggiungono alla selezione spettrale il fatto di essere sonde foto-indotte. Questa caratteristica fa si che sia possibile misurare distanze intarmolecolari tripletto-nitrossido, applicando la fotoeccitazione laser, e distanze ntermolecolari nitrossido-nitrossido spegnedo invece la fotoeccitazione. Mentre la fattibilità di esperimenti di spettroscopia dipolare applicati a stati di tripletto fotoeccitati era già stata dimostrata precedentemente a questo lavoro di tesi [Di Valentin, M.; Albertini, M.; Zurlo, E.; Gobbo, M. and Carbonera, D. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2014, 136, 6582 -6585], mancavano completemente indagini in grado di stabilire l’affidabilità e l’accuratezza del nuovo sistema di labeling e un inquadramento teorico in grado di escrivere il comportamento di tali sistemi polarizzati ad alto spin durante l’esperimento PDS. Il lavoro alla base della presente tesi è consistito nella completa caratterizzazione spettroscopica e teorica di questi sistemi di spin. Per verificare l’affidabilità del nuovo approccio, le sonde di tripletto sono state testate con diverse tecniche PDS, e sono stati inoltre utilizzati vari cromofori per la foto-generazione del centro paramagnetico, effettuando l’analisi sia su sistemi modello che in proteina. Lo studio è stato completato con un esaustivo trattamento teorico dei sistemi tripletto-radicale in spettroscopia dipolare. La precisione e l’accuratezza del metodo sono state verificate misurando le tracce dipolari di un righello spettroscopico costituito da una serie di perptidi in ®-elica di lunghezza crescente, ognuno marcato con un cromoforo porfirinico e un radicale nitrossido. L’ottima correlazione trovata tra le distanze ottenute analizzando le tracce sperimentali e i dati strutturali derivanti dai calcoli ha permesso di dimostrare l’affidabilità delle sonde di tripletto nelle tecniche PDS. Attualmente sono disponibili diverse sequenze PDS che sfruttano diversi meccanismi per indurre l’oscillazione dipolare nelle tracce sperimentali. Molte di queste sequenze sono state quindi testate sulla sonda di tripletto in modo da verificarne le prestazioni con le diverse tecniche. La disponibilità di molteplici sequenze PDS e il loro buon funzionamento su sistemi fotoindotti permette di selezionare, a seconda dei casi, lo schema di impulsi che garantisce le migliori prestazioni in termini di rapporto segnale-rumore e ciò dimostra la versitilità delle sonde di tripletto. La nuova metodologia è stata estesa anche a studi in proteina utilizzando come sistemi modello la Peridinin-Chlorophyill a-Protein, appartenente alla classe delle proteine fotosintetiche, e neuroglobina umana, facente parte della famiglia dellle globine. In Peridinin-Chlorophyill a-Protein è stata misurata l’interazione dipolare tra uno dei carotenoidi presenti nel sito attivo e un nitrossido inserito tramite spin labeling, permettendo non solo l’individuazione del pigmento coinvolto nel meccanismo di fotoprotezione, ma espendendo anche l’applicabilità dell’esperimento a cromofori diversi dai derivati porfirinici. Nella neuroglobina umana invece la zinco-sostituzione dell’eme ha permesso di popolare lo stato di tripletto nel gruppo endogeno e dimostrando che la tecnica dipolare fotoindotta può essere utilizzata anche nello studio strutturale di proteine (macromolecole) apparteneneti alla classe delle emoproteine. Infine è stata effettuata anche un’esaustiva caratterizzazione teorica delle sonde di tripletto basata sul formalismo della matrice densità. E’ stata ricavata l’espressione che descrive la modulazione delle tracce dipolari in sistemi tripletto-radicale, che è risultata essere analoga a quella ottenuta per sistemi di due radicali interagenti. Successivamente è stato implementato un programma per il calcolo numerico di tracce dipolari che ha permesso una descrizione quantitativa diversi sistemi tripletto-radicale.

Nel presente lavoro di tesi magistrale sono stati depositati e caratterizzati sottili film di ossido di alluminio, Al2O3, (di spessore compreso tra 3-30 nm) su un substrato di FZ-Si drogato p. La deposizione è avvenuta mediante plasma ALD (Atomic Layer Depostion). La tecnica spettroscopica EPR (Electron Paramagnetic Resonance) è stata utilizzata per studiare l’interfaccia Si/Al2O3 con lo scopo di scoprire l’origine della formazione di densità di carica negativa Qf all’interfaccia: tale carica negativa induce una passivazione per effetto di campo ed è quindi la ragione per cui il dielettrico Al2O3 risulta essere un ottimo materiale passivante. Si è deciso di variare alcuni parametri, come lo spessore dello strato di Al2O3, lo spessore dello strato intermedio di ossido di silicio, depositato mediante ossidazione termica (dry thermal oxidation), e la superficie del substrato di silicio. Sono stati realizzati cinque differenti gruppi di campioni: per ciascuno di essi sono state impiegate varie tecniche di caratterizzazione, come la QSSPC (Quasi Steady State Photoconuctance) e la tecnica di spettroscopia ottica SE (spettroscopic ellipsometry). Per ogni gruppo sono stati riportati gli spettri EPR ottenuti ed i rispettivi fit, da cui è stato possibile risalire ai fattori giromagnetici di spin g, riportati in tabelle con le loro possibili attribuzioni. E’ stato dimostrato che la presenza di uno strato di ossido di silicio tra il substrato di silicio e lo strato di ossido di alluminio risulta essere fondamentale per la formazione di densità di carica negativa all’interfaccia: aumentando lo spessore dello strato di SiOx (nel range 1-30 nm) si assiste ad una diminuzione di carica negativa Qf. Analizzando gli spettri EPR, è stato possibile concludere che all’interfaccia Si/Al2O3 sono presenti difetti caratteristici dell’interfaccia Si/SiOx. Le nostre osservazioni, dunque, sono coerenti con la formazione di uno strato di ossido di silicio tra Si e Al2O3.

Die Elektronenspinresonanz (ESR) untersucht die im quasistatischen Magnetfeld resonante Absorption eines an die Probe angelegten Mikrowellenmagnetfeldes. Es wurde das System Yb1-w A1-w (Rh1-x Cox)2 (Si1-y Gey) 2 mit A=La, bzw. Lu, sowie das System YbIr2Si2 mittels ESR untersucht. Unter Kondo-Wechselwirkung vieler Leitungselektronen mit einem lokalen 4f-Moment des Kondo-Ions bildet sich ein nicht-magnetisches Grundzustands-Singlett, was zur Abschirmung des magnetischen Moments führt. YbRh2Si2 ist das erste Schwere-Fermionen-System mit Kondo-Ionen, das ohne Dotierung zusätzlicher ESR-Sonden ein ESR-Signal unterhalb der Kondo-Temperatur aufweist. Es zeigt sich, dass das ESR-Signal nicht mittels gängiger ESR-Theorien konsistent beschrieben werden kann. Die Messungen, die im Rahmen dieser Arbeit angestellt wurden, flossen in die Entwicklung von weiterführenden Theorien (z.B. [1], [2]) ein. Die Temperaturabhängigkeit des ESR-g-Faktors konnte damit erfolgreich beschrieben werden, womit erstmals der Nachweis einer Kondo-Wechselwirkung in Kondo-Gitter-Systemen mittels ESR gelang. Ferner konnte die Bedeutung von ferromagnetischen Fluktuationen für eine kleine, beobachtbare Linienbreite beschrieben werden. Der ESR-Methode ist somit die Kondo-Spindynamik direkt zugänglich. Dieser Zugang ist neu und einzigartig, denn andere Methoden (NMR, inelastische Neutronenstreuung) charakterisieren die Kondo-Spindynamik auf indirekte Weise. [1] P. Wölfle und E. Abrahams. Phenomenology of esr in heavy-fermion systems: Fermi-liquid und nicht-fermi-liquid regimes Phys. Rev. B, 80(23): 235112, 2009. [2] B. I. Kochelaev, S. I. Belov, A. M. Skvortsova, A. S. Kutusov, J. Sichelschmidt, J. Wykhoff, C. Geibel und F. Steglich. Why could electron spin resonance be observed in a heavy fermion kondo lattice? Eur. Phys. J. B, 72(4): 485, 2009.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2008.
The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on August 28, 2008) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

The work described in this thesis is an experimental study into the application of Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) Spectroscopy for the study of biological systems. Using a variety of methods of site-directed spin-labelling (SDSL), this thesis aims to explore long range structure in an assortment of recombinant and native proteins, and complexes thereof. The work described in this thesis covers all aspects of the work, from experimental design, molecular biology and cloning, protein expression and purification, as well as functional characterisation, and finally EPR distance measurements, data analysis and interpretation. Challenges and pitfalls will also be addressed. Chapters 1 and 2 introduce EPR spectroscopy, and its application in the study of long range structure in biological systems. The experimental techniques employed throughout this thesis are also introduced. Chapter 3 details an investigation into the complement C3b:factor H complex. This chapter addresses the challenges associated with the SDSL of cysteine rich proteins. Utilising hidden cysteine residues in native proteins for spin-labelling purposes will also be addressed. Chapter 4 looks at the interactions of the human myosin regulatory light chain (RLC) with cardiac myosin binding protein C (cMyBP-C). Optimisation of expression and purification protocols will be the focus, as well as addressing issues with protein solubility and spin labelling efficiencies. Chapter 5 explores the development of new methods of SDSL, for the specific labelling of cysteine rich proteins. The ability of Escherichia coli to read through the amber stop codon will be exploited for the incorporation of unnatural amino acids for labelling purposes, and novel spin labels, specific for labelling cysteine pairs tested in several model systems. Furthermore, native paramagnetic centres in recombinant proteins will be explored as potential labelling sites.

Cette thèse est dédiée à l’étude des propriétés magnétiques des couches nanométriques de GaMnAs par Résonance ferromagnétique (RFM). Trois séries des échantillons sont étudiées afin d' élucider l’influence des contraintes, la concentration des trous et la concentration de manganèse, sur les propriétés magnétiques de GaMnAs. Dans la première série, les échantillons de Ga1-xMnxAs avec x=0. 07 déposés sur les substrats de GaAs (en compression) et GaInAs (en extension) sont étudiés. Les résultats des mesures de l’aimantation, la résistivité et l’effet de Hall sont présentés. Les axes faciles de l’aimantation et le type d’anisotropie sont déterminés par mesures RFM. Les variations angulaires des spectres RFM sont étudiées en détails et le facteur g, la température de Curie et les constantes d’anisotropie sont déterminées en fonction de la température. La résonance des ondes de spin sont également observées et interprétées. Les observations sont comparées aux modèles phénoménologiques proposés et le spin stiffness et l’intégrale d’échange entre les ions de manganèse sont déduits. La deuxième étude concerne une série des échantillons de GaMnAs avec même niveau de dopage de Mn de 7% concentration atomique dont les concentrations de trous étaient variées via la passivation par l’hydrogène. Les concentrations des trous sont déduites des mesures d’effet Hall sous la condition de forts champs appliqués et à très basses températures. Les concentrations de trous mesurés correspondent aux différents régimes de conductivités ; de régime isolant aux régimes bande d’impureté et métallique. Les échantillons sont caractérisés par magnétométrie SQUID et les mesures de résistivité. L’aimantation en fonction de la concentration de trous est comparée aux prédictions du modèle RKKY. Les mesures de ERDA sont appliquées à la fin de déterminer la concentration de hydrogène dans l’échantillon ferromagnétique avec la concentration de trous la plus faible dans la série. La structure des domaines de cet échantillon est étudiée par microscopie magnéto-optique d’effet Kerr. Les spectres RFM sont analysés en détail et la concentration de trous correspondant à la formation de l’ordre ferromagnétique est estimée à 1019cm-3. Les facteurs g dépendent de la concentration de trous et la température. La relation entre les facteurs g et les polarisations de trous des échantillons calculées théoriquement est présentée. L’étude d’anisotropie des échantillons est fournie la détermination des constantes d’anisotropie magnétocrystallines en fonction de la concentration de trous et la température. Leurs variations sont comparées aux modèles théoriques. Les surfaces d’énergie sont déduites des constantes d’anisotropie magnétocrystallines mesurées, sont calculées en fonction de l’aimantation et les orientations et les grandeurs du champ appliqué. L’influence d’augmentation du niveau de dopage, de 7% à 21% concentration atomique est étudiée dans la troisième série des échantillons. Contrairement des prédictions théoriques, la température de Curie n’est pas augmentée en dessous de 180K. Les paramètres de RFM sont comparés à ceux des échantillon standard de GaMnAs avec 7% concentration atomique de Mn. La raison est attribuée au haut niveau de la compensation magnétique. Les mesures sont également comparées aux prédictions théoriques basées sur les approximations de champ moyen. La relaxation de l’aimantation est étudiée en fonction des contraintes, la concentration de trous et Mn aussi bien que la température. Les constantes de damping, sont trouvées d’être anisotropes. Cette anisotropie, dépend fortement aux procès dont contribution est la dominante pour une configuration particulaire du système
This thesis is dedicated to the study of the magnetic properties of GaMnAs nanometric layers by the ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) technique. Three series of samples have been studied to investigate independently the influence of the strain, the hole concentration and the Mn concentration on the magnetic properties of GaMnAs. In the first series, the Ga1-xMnxAs samples with x=0. 07, grown on GaAs (compressive strain) and GaInAs (tensile strain) substrates are studied. The results of magnetization, resistivity and Hall effect measurements are presented. From the FMR measurements the easy axes of magnetization and the type of magnetic anisotropy are determined. The angular variations of the FMR spectra are studied in detail and the g-factor, Curie temperature and the magnetocrystalline anisotropy constants are determined as function of temperature. Spin wave resonance were equally observed and interpreted. The observations are compared to the proposed phenomenological models and the spin stiffness and the exchange integral between the Mn ions are deducedThe second study concerns a series of GaMnAs samples with the same Mn doping level of 7% atomic concentration in which the hole concentrations was varied via a hydrogen passivation technique. The hole concentrations are deduced from Hall effect measurements in high fields and low temperatures. The measured hole concentrations correspond to different conductivity regimes from insulating to impurity band and metallic regimes. The samples are characterized by SQUID magnetometry and resistivity measurements. The magnetization as a function of hole concentration is compared to the predictions of the RKKY model. ERDA measurements are performed to determine the concentration of hydrogen in the ferromagnetic sample with the lowest hole concentration. The domain structure of this samples is investigated by magneto-optical Kerr effect microscopy. The FMR spectra are analyzed in details and the hole concentration corresponding to the onset of ferromagnetism is estimated to 1019cm-3. The g-factors depend on the hole concentration and temperature. The relation between the g-factors and the theoretically calculated hole polarization of the samples is presented. The anisotropy studies of the samples have provided the investigation of the magnetocrystalline anisotropy constants as a function of the hole concentration and the temperature. Their variations are compared to the theoretical models. The energy surfaces deduced from the measured magnetocrytalline anisotropy constants are calculated as a function of magnetization and applied field orientations and magnitudes. The influence of increasing the doping level from 7% to 21% atomic concentration is studied in the third series of samples. Contrary to the theoretical predictions, the critical temperature is not increased above 180K. The FMR parameters are compared to those of standard GaMnAs sample doped with 7%atomic concentration of Mn. The reason for no further increase in TC is attributed to high level of magnetic compensation. The measurements are also compared to the theoretical predictions based on the mean field approximations. The relaxation of the magnetization is studied as a function of strain, hole concentration, Mn concentration as well as temperature. The damping constants were found to be anisotropic. This anisotropy however depends strongly on the process whose contribution is dominant for a specific configuration of the system

In der eingereichten Dissertation wird eine Reihe von niederdimensionalen und frustrierten magnetischen Systemen mit Hilfe der Elektronenspinresonanz (ESR) untersucht, um deren magnetische Eigenschaften und Wechselwirkungen zu charakterisieren. Sowohl niederdimensionale als auch frustrierte Systeme können exotische magnetische Phänomene zeigen, da es in beiden Fällen trotz starker magnetischer Korrelationen zu einer Unterdrückung von konventioneller langreichweitiger magnetischer Ordnung kommen kann. Auf der anderen Seite sind zweidimensionale Systeme wie Graphen und die damit verwandten topologischen Isolatoren interessant für Anwendungen in der Spintronik oder in Quantencomputern. Über das Einbringen von magnetischer Ordnung soll dabei die Kontrolle über den Spin von Elektronen erlangt werden. Es werden quasieindimensionale Spinketten in Cu(py)2Br2 untersucht, die ein gutes Modellsysteme für den Vergleich mit exakten theoretischen Berechnungen darstellen. Durch eingehende ESR-Messungen ist es gelungen, ein Modell für die Ausrichtung der Anisotropieachse zu entwickeln, die senkrecht zur Kettenachse steht. Zusätzlich zum g-Tensor konnten durch Magnetisierungsmessungen das Austauschintegral und dessen Anisotropie bestimmt werden. Die Austauschwechselwirkung kann über die Substitution von Br- mit Cl-Ionen in Cu(py)2(Cl1-xBrx)2 gezielt variiert werden. Des Weiteren wird eine kombinierte Studie aus STM- und ESR-Untersuchungen an monolagigem Graphen mit induzierten Fehlstellen vorgestellt. Es wurden Defekte durch den Beschuss mit Ar-Ionen in Graphen kontrolliert hergestellt, deren lokale elektronische Eigenschaften sich mit STM- und STS-Messungen charakte-risieren lassen. Mit ESR-Messungen konnte gezeigt werden, dass die an den einzelnen Fehlstellen lokalisierten magnetischen Momente eine dominant antiferromagnetische Austauschwechselwirkung besitzen. Die Charakterisierung der magnetischen Wechselwirkungen zwischen lokalisierten Momenten stand auch für den mit Mn dotierten topologischen Isolator Bi2Te3 im Vordergrund, welcher einen ferromagnetischen Phasenübergang bei tiefen Temperaturen zeigt. Anhand des mit ESR beobachteten Korringa-Verhaltens wurde bewiesen, dass die lokalisierten Mn-Spins an leitende Bänder gekoppelt sind und die ferromagnetische Ordnung folglich per RKKY-Wechselwirkung vermittelt wird. Es wurden kurzreichweitige magnetische Korrelationen in einem ausgedehnten Temperaturbereich oberhalb der Ordnungstemperatur beobachtet, die Hinweise auf einen zweidimensionalen Charakter zeigen. Ausgedehnte Temperaturbereiche mit kurzreichweitigen Korrelationen werden ebenfalls in den untersuchten magnetisch frustrierten Materialien beobachtet. In einer kombinierten Studie aus HF-ESR, NMR und µSR wird die Spindynamik in CoAl2O4 charakterisiert, in dem moderate Unordnung zu einem Verschwimmen der Phasengrenze zwischen Neél-Ordnung und einer Spinflüssigkeit mit spiralförmigen Korrelationen führt. Außerdem werden zwei Vertreter aus der Klasse der Swedenborgite behandelt, in denen die Spinstruktur in YBaCo4O7 durch Substitution modifiziert wird. Ziel ist die Entkopplung der enthaltenen Kagome-Schichten, welche ein zweidimensionales frustriertes System darstellen. In den vorgestellten HF-ESR- und NMR-Messungen beobachtet man ein Spinglasverhalten für YBaCo3AlO7, das aus der Unordnung bei der Besetzung der Gitterplätze resultiert. In YBaCo3FeO7 ist die Unordnung geringer und mit ESR-Untersuchungen konnte gezeigt werden, dass es zu einer effektiven Entkopplung der Fe-Spins zwischen den Kagome-Schichten kommt.

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Foram estudados as propriedades de absorção ótica, de termoluminescência e de ressonância paramagnética eletrônica do mineral natural de silicato de nome MONTICELITA do grupo Olivina, para caracterização desse mineral, cuja formula química é CaMgSiO4. A absorção ótica mostrou que há três bandas de absorção em 450 nm, 660 nm e 1050 nm. As duas primeiras bandas, a primeira no azul e a segunda no amarelo-vermelho são responsáveis pela cor verde da Monticelita. Essas duas bandas são consequência do elemento cromo contido no mineral absorver fótons do feixe universal no visível de frequências centradas em 450 nm e 660 nm. A banda em 1050 nm é devido ao Fe2+. As curvas de emissão de uma amostra de Monticelita irradiada com raios gama de doses entre 10 e 1000 Gy apresenta três picos em 150 °C , 270 °C e 370 °C . Pelo método da deconvolução e de várias taxas de aquecimento foram obtidos energia E1=1,35 eV e fator de frequência s1=4,98x1011 s-1 para o pico 270 °C e E2=1,70 eV e s2=1,88x1011 s-1 para pico 370 °C . A irradiação com raios gama de doses entre 5 kGy e 50 kGy produziram pico TL de 380 °C com intensidade TL em função da dose linear e crescente. Este resultado e importante para dosimetria da radiação de altas doses. O espectro EPR de uma amostra natural, mostrou um resultado não esperado e interessante. Além dos sinais típicos de interação hiperfina do Mn2+, um sinal avantajado de g =6,34 indica que o ferro formou moléculas de hematita, Fe2O3. Esse sinal desaparece com aquecimento acima de 800 °C de recozimento, dando origem dipolos magnéticos de Fe3+, que dá origem a um sinal típico em g =2. Esta descrição mostra bem a caracterização do mineral Monticelita.
Dissertação (Mestrado em Tecnologia Nuclear)
IPEN/D
Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares - IPEN-CNEN/SP

Nous avons étudié, par RPE impulsionnelle, la cohérence quantique et des spins électroniques des ions de transition Mn2+, Co2+, Fe3+, et des complexes Fe3+/Cs+ et Fe3+/Na+, tous présents dans le ZnO monocristallin. Nous avons trouvé que l’anisotropie magnétique peut altérer la cohérence de la phase dynamique des qubits des spins électroniques. Nous avons mesuré une faible décohérence pour les spins d’ions Mn2+et Fe3+ dans ZnO, qui ont tous deux une faible anisotropie magnétique uniaxiale, tandis que les ions Co2+ isolés avec une très forte anisotropie magnétique uniaxiale, une décohérence rapide a été mis en évidence. Nous avons trouvé que les spins électroniques des complexes de type Fe3+/Cs+, ayant un tenseur d’anisotropie magnétique plus complexe que la simple anisotropie uniaxiale des ions Fe3+ isolés, possèdent presque le même temps de décohérence. Par la méthode des perturbations, nous avons mis en évidence théoriquement un terme supplémentaire à la phase habituelle de Berry, dû à l’anisotropie magnétique et qui existe dans tout système ayant un spin S>1/2
We studied by pulsed EPR (p-EPR), the quantum coherence of electronic spins qubits of isolated transition metal ions of Mn2+, Co2+, Fe3+ and Fe3+/Cs+ as well as Fe3+/Na+ complexes, all found as traces in mono-crystalline ZnO. Indeed, we experimentally demonstrated that the magnetic anisotropy can alter the coherence of the dynamic phase of electronic spins qubits. We found a small decoherence for Mn2+ and Fe3+, spins having a small uniaxial magnetic anisotropy, and on the contrary, we found a very strong decoherence for Co2+ spins having a very strong uniaxial magnetic anisotropy. We found that the electronic spins of the Fe3+/Cs+ complex, having a more complex tensor magnetic anisotropy compared to the simplest uniaxial one of isolated Fe3+ spins in ZnO, have almost the same coherence time. By the perturbation method, we have found theoretically an additional term to the usual geometric Berry phase, due to the magnetic anisotropy which exists in any system having a spin S>1/2

The ESR g-value and susceptibility measurements for DMTM(TCNQ)₂ have been studied as a function of angle made by crystal with magnetic field and temperature. The angular dependence of g-value is fitted to g² = α+βcos2θ - γsin2θ for three orthogonal directions of crystal rotation. The principal g-values are close to those expected for TCNQ compounds: g₁ = 2.0034, g₂ = 2.0030, g₃ = 2.0024. The susceptibility as a function of temperature agrees with bulk susceptibility measurements except that the maximum position occurs at about 30 K. The results of Oostra et al. for bulk susceptibility showed a maximum at around 50 K. The phase transition reported by Visser et al. at 272 K is observed in the ESR data as a 15% decrease in susceptibility. The linewidth is remarkably anisotropic typical of TCNQ salts. The phase transition study is done for two orientations of the crystal with the magnet field. In one of the orientations the linewidth narrows from 0.15 to 0.11 gauss and in the other it narrows from 0.24 to 0.18 gauss. In the former case there is a growth of a second line due to the twinned stack; transformation twinning takes place at the phase transition. A small level-crossing interaction is inferred from the change in relative intensities of the lines near the crossover.
Science, Faculty of
Physics and Astronomy, Department of
Graduate

Since the last few decades frustrated spin systems have attracted much interest. These studies are motivated by the rich variety of their unusual magnetic properties and potential applications. In this thesis, excitation spectra of the weakly coupled dimer system Ba3Cr2O8, the spin-1/2 chain material with distorted diamond structure Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2 (natural mineral azurite), and the quasi-twodimensional antiferromagnet with triangle spin structure Cs2CuBr4 have been studied by means of high-field electron spin resonance. Two pairs of gapped modes corresponding to transitions from a spin-singlet ground state to the first excited triplet state with zero-field energy gaps, of 19.1 and 27 K were observed in Ba3Cr2O8. The observation of ground-state excitations clearly indicates the presence of a non-secular term allowing these transitions. Our findings are of crucial importance for the interpretation of the field-induced transitions in this material (with critical fields Hc1 = 12.5 T and Hc2 = 23.6 T) in terms of the magnon Bose-Einstein condensation. The natural mineral azurite, Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2, has been studied in magnetic fields up to 50 T, revealing several modes not observed previously. Based on the obtained data, all three critical fields were identified. A substantial zero-field energy gap, Δ = 9.6 K, has been observed in Cs2CuBr4 above the ordering temperature. It is argued that contrary to the case for the isostructural Cs2CuCl4, the size of the gap can not be explained solely by the uniform Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, but it is rather the result of the geometrical frustration stabilizing the spin-disordered state in Cs2CuBr4 in the close vicinity of the quantum phase transition between a spiral magnetically ordered state and a 2D quantum spin liquid.

ESR has been used to study multi-phase food systems, including ice cream and chocolate, using both spin probes and spin labels. Chemical and physical methodologies were developed and applied to study the behaviour of 1,1,3,3-tetramethylisoindolin-2-yloxyl (TMIO), the 5-pentyl derivative (PTMIO) and the water-soluble 5-sulphonate (NaTMIOS) spin probes in hydrophilic and hydrophobic phases over a range of temperatures. Linewidths and hyperfine coupling constants (aN) were derived using fitting and simulating computer software, from which rotational correlation times (tauc) and enthalpies of activation of molecular rotation were calculated. These give an indication of the local environment of the probe. In the hydrophilic phase of ice cream there was a sharp reduction in probe mobility at -18°C, which did not occur in the hydrophobic phase. In chocolate, an essentially hydrophobic system, no sudden changes in mobility were detected although at around 60°C there was a change in the enthalpy of activation. Spectral deconvolution techniques enabled the simultaneous study of NaTMIOS and TMIO in the hydrophilic and hydrophobic phases of ice cream and enabled the study of TMIO spectra in the presence of the underlying spectrum of the radical present in chocolate. Guar gum and xanthan gum are used as stabilisers in ice cream and were spin-labelled using 5-carboxy-TMIO (CTMIO) and 5-amino-TEMPO respectively. The ESR spectra showed that the mobilities of the nitroxide moieties were comparable with the free spin probes. The addition of the gums to a sucrose solution, a model hydrophilic system, had no appreciable effect on the mobility of the NaTMIOS spin probe.

Kyoto University (京都大学)
0048
新制・課程博士
博士(人間・環境学)
甲第11680号
人博第286号
新制||人||71(附属図書館)
16||177(吉田南総合図書館)
23323
UT51-2005-D429
京都大学大学院人間･環境学研究科人間･環境学専攻
(主査)教授 山内 淳, 教授 田村 類, 助教授 田部 勢津久
学位規則第4条第1項該当

Dans une expérience classique de résonance paramagnétique électronique (RPE), le couplage entre les spins et leur environnement électromagnétique est faible, limitant considérablement la sensibilité de la mesure. Grâce à l’utilisation combinée d'un amplificateur paramétrique Josephson et de micro-résonateurs supraconductuers de hauts facteurs de qualité refroidis à quelques millikelvins, ce travail rapporte la conception et la mise en œuvre d’un spectromètre RPE dont la sensibilité de détection est limitée par les fluctuations quantiques du champ électromagnétique au lieu d’un bruit d’origine thermique ou technique. Des mesures de RPE pulsée sur un ensemble de doneurs Bismuth dans le silicium permettent de démontrer une sensibilité de 1700 spins détectés par écho de Hahn avec un signal-sur-bruit unitaire. La sensibilité est encore améliorée en générant un état de vide comprimé dans le guide d'onde de détection, ce qui réduit les fluctuations quantiques au-delà de la limite quantique. Les hauts facteurs de qualité et le petit volume de mode du résonateur supraconducteur développés pour une sensibilité accrue accroit également le couplage spin-résonateur jusqu'au point où les fluctuations quantiques ont un effet dramatique sur la dynamique des spins. En effet, l’émission spontanée de photons dans le résonateur micro-onde est considérablement renforcée par l'effet Purcell, ce qui en fait le mécanisme de relaxation de spin dominant. Le taux de relaxation est augmenté de trois ordres de grandeur lorsque les spins sont accordés à résonance, démontrant que la relaxation de spin peut-être contrôlée sur demande. Nos résultats fournissent une méthode nouvelle et universelle pour initialiser des systèmes de spin dans leur état fondamental, avec des applications en résonance magnétique et en information quantique
In usual electron-spin resonance (ESR) experiments, the coupling between spins and their electromagnetic environment is quite weak, severely limiting the sensitivity of the measurements. Using a Josephson parametric microwave amplifier combined with high-quality factor superconducting micro-resonators cooled at millikelvin temperatures, this work reports the design and implementation of an ESR setup where the detection sensitivity is limited by quantum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field instead of thermal or technical noise. Pulsed ESR measurements on an ensemble of Bismuth donors in Silicon spins demonstrate a sensitivity of 1700 spins within a single Hahn echo with unit signal-to-noise (SNR) ratio. The sensitivity of the setup is improved one step further by generating squeezed vacuum in the detection waveguide, reducing the amount of noise beyond the quantum limit. The high-quality factors and small mode volume superconducting microwave ESR resonator developed for enhanced sensitivity also enhances the spin-resonator coupling up to the point where quantum fluctuations have a dramatic effect on the spin dynamics. As a consequence, the spin spontaneous emission of microwave photons in the resonator is dramatically enhanced by the Purcell effect, making it the dominant spin relaxation mechanism. The relaxation rate is increased by three orders of magnitude when the spins are tuned to resonance, showing that spin relaxation can be engineered and controlled on-demand. Our results provide a novel and general way to initialize spin systems into their ground state, with applications in magnetic resonance and quantum information processing

The opening Chapter entitled Principles of Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) gives a brief introduction to the technique of ESR spectroscopy. Following this Chapter the thesis is divided into two parts; A and B. In Part A, the application of ESR spectroscopy to the study of solvent degradation in nuclear fuel reprocessing is discussed. Chapter 1 gives a brief account of nuclear fuel reprocessing, describing in particular the "Purex process". The causes, and chemical aspects, of solvent degradation are also discussed. Chapter 2 discusses how ESR spectroscopy was used to gain insight into the mechanism of solvent degradation caused by ?-irradiation. Firstly, individual components, such as OP(OBun)3 (TBP), were studied and then combined components, until near simulated "Purex process" conditions were reached. Particular attention is paid to the detection of radicals formed by ?-radiolysis (at 77 K) of TBP and also OP (OMe)3. A mechanism of formation is proposed. Also, comments are made on radical yields, and the effect changes in the diluent has. Part B considers the electron-loss and electron-gain processes involved when tervalent and trivalent phosphorus compounds are exposed to ionizing radiation (at 77 K). Chapter 1 discusses the formation of tervalent phosphorus radical cations. Attention is focused on the freon method of generation. A number of cations such as oPMe3+, oP(OMe)3+ and oPCl3+ are identified. Chapter 2 discusses the formation of tetravalent phosphorus radical cations. Attempts to generate and detect the radical cations OP (OMe)3+ and O?(OBun) + using the freon method are described. A study of other 31 electron PL4 radicals, including (L3P-PL3)+, is discussed. In Chapter 3 the detection of radicals produced by ?-radiolysis (at 77 K) of tervalent phosphorus compounds, particularly P(OMe)3 and PMe3 is discussed. Attention is concentrated on the identification, and on the mechanism of formation, of those radicals formed by electron- gain processes. Special attention is given to the postulated parent electron-gain species (:?L3-) and also to phosphinyl radicals :?L2. Chapter 4 discusses the ?-radiolysis (at 77 K) of tetravalent phosphorus compounds; various (RO)2 PXS- salts and corresponding disulphides [(RO)2 P (X) S]2 (where X = S or O). Attention is focused on the identification and on the mechanism of formation of radicals produced by electron-gain processes.