IC-based electron spin detection for biomedical and material science applications

基于电子自旋共振（ESR）效应的方法是医学以及自然科学和材料科学中最强大的分析技术之一，因为它们能够研究各种样品中顺磁性物质的结构、动力学和空间分布。建议项目的主要目的是改善及/或加强现有的外判系统的功能，通过有效地利用现代集成电路（IC）技术的能力，用于ESR效应的电感和电学测量的高灵敏度探测器。第一个主要子项目旨在开发一个用户友好，便携且高度灵敏的Ku波段床旁监护（Point-of-Care，简称PIT）ESR光谱仪，用于使用自旋捕集法对全血样品中的氧化和亚硝化应激进行基于ESR的分析。我们将与乌尔姆医学院和心理学系的最终用户合作开发ESR光谱仪，该光谱仪将使ESR光谱作为评估氧化和亚硝化应激的金标准，同时具有高度的用户友好性和出色的自旋灵敏度，可供广大临床最终用户使用。ESR谱仪将以基于芯片集成振荡器的电感ESR检测器为中心，该检测器非常适合预期的ESR实现，因为其创新的测量原理允许以非常小的功率预算激发和检测自旋系综。此外，由于我们将使用0.5 T NMR永磁体来产生所需的静态B 0场，我们将能够创建一个小型化，便携式，甚至电池供电的光谱仪，用于临床应用中的日常使用。在这里，对于电感ESR检测，我们将使用与ESR光谱仪相同的基于振荡器的测量原理。然而，电感式ESR传感器的振荡器将同时用作使用EDMR的ESR效应的电检测的微波源。为提高传感器的灵敏度，并使其更稳健地抵御外来干扰，我们会将EDMR检测所需的跨谐放大器与电感检测器共同集成在单一集成电路上，从而形成高度小型化、高灵敏度的系统，用于电感ESR和EDMR信号的联合测量。我们将设计两个电子自旋检测系统，其最佳地利用现代纳米尺度集成电路技术的能力，以创建具有高度小型化和改进的用户友好性与优异的灵敏度相结合的传感器。

Methods based on the electron spin resonance (ESR) effect are amongst the most powerful analytical techniques in medicine as well as in the natural and material sciences because they enable to study the structure, dynamics and spatial distribution of paramagnetic species in a large variety of samples.In this context, the main goal of the proposed project is to improve and/or to enhance the functionality of existing ESR-instruments for two specific applications from the fields of life science and material science by efficiently using the capabilities of modern integrated circuit (IC) technologies for the manufacturing of miniaturized, highly sensitive detectors for inductive and electrical measurements of the ESR effect.The first main subproject aims at developing a user-friendly, portable and yet highly sensitive Ku-band point-of-care (PoC) ESR spectrometer for the ESR based analysis of oxidative and nitrosative stress in whole blood samples using the spin trapping method. In cooperation with end-users from the medical school and the psychology department in Ulm, we will develop an ESR spectrometer, which will make ESR spectroscopy as the gold standard for the assessment of oxidative and nitrosative stress accessible to a large community of clinical end-users by featuring both a high user-friendliness and an excellent spin sensitivity. The PoC spectrometer will be centered on a chip-integrated oscillator based, inductive ESR detector, which is ideally suited for the intended PoC realization because its innovative measuring principle allows for both the excitation and the detection of the spin ensemble with a very small power budget. Since, in addition, we will use a 0.5 T NMR permanent magnet to produce the required static B0 field, we will be able to create a miniaturized, portable, and even battery operated spectrometer for the daily use in clinical applications.The second subproject will deal with the development of integrated circuits for combined ESR-EDMR experiments. Here, for the inductive ESR detection, we will use the same oscillator based measurement principle as for the PoC spectrometer. However, the oscillator of the inductive ESR sensor will at the same time serve as the microwave source for the electrical detection of the ESR effect using EDMR. To both enhance the sensor sensitivity and render it more robust against external interferences, we will co-integrate the transimpedance amplifier required for the EDMR detection together with the inductive detector on a single integrated circuit, resulting in a highly miniaturized, highly sensitive system for the combined measurement of inductive ESR and EDMR signals.In summary, in the proposed project, we will design two electron spin detection systems which optimally exploit the capabilities of modern nanometer scale integrated circuit technologies to create sensors with high degrees of miniaturization and improved user-friendliness combined with an excellent sensitivity.