The Utility of Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Spectrometers in Laboratory Analysis

Researchers at CEA-Leti and CEA-IRIG-SyMMES recently developed a battery-operated electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectrometer small enough to fit on a single microchip. The results were unveiled at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) 2026 in San Francisco.¹

To learn more about this device and explore what EPR spectrometers can help analysts achieve in the laboratory, Spectroscopy sat down with Jean-Baptiste David, who is a R&D Engineer at CEA-Leti, and Serge Gambarelli, who is a research director at CEA-IRIG and EPR spectroscopy expert. In this first clip of a multi-part interview with Spectroscopy, they discuss how EPR spectrometers are changing the way laboratory analysis is conducted.

What are electron paramagnetic spectrometers and how are they used?

EPR spectrometers are analytical tools that are primarily used to detect reactive chemical species in fields ranging from energy storage and materials science to environmental monitoring and biomedical research.² Until now, these instruments have been confined to centralized laboratories because of their reliance on bulky, power-hungry electromagnets. The new chip-scale design does away with that hardware entirely, replacing it with an ultra-fast frequency-scanned architecture built on a 22 nm integrated circuit.²

What is unique about CEA-Leti’s portable electron paramagnetic spectrometer design and performance?

The microchip in this device was demonstrated to achieve a scan rate of 1,400 THz/s, a 100-Gauss equivalent spectral span, and a concentration sensitivity of 120 µM within a 200-nanosecond scan window.² According to the team, these numbers surpass existing miniaturized EPR devices, which typically sacrifice either sensitivity or spectral range to gain speed.²

Central to the chip's performance is an injection-locked phase-detection architecture, an original approach that encodes the EPR signal as a phase shift rather than a change in amplitude or frequency.² This technique takes advantage of the low phase noise inherent in injection-locked oscillators, delivering high sensitivity from a single compact sensor.

What industries are portable electron paramagnetic spectrometers best suited for?

Portable EPR sensing is best suited for conducting on-site chemical analysis at industrial facilities, as well as playing a role in embedded diagnostics in medical devices and distributed environmental monitoring networks. This is because these three applications, in particular, are simply out of reach for conventional laboratory equipment.²

References

1. IEEE International Solid-States Circuit Conference, 2026 IEEE International Solid-States Circuit Conference. ISSCC.org. Available at: https://www.isscc.org/ (accessed 2026-04-06).
2. CEA-Leti, CEA-Leti Validates First Ultra-Fast, Battery-Operated EPR Spectrometer at Chip Scale. CEA-Leti. Available at: https://www.leti-cea.com/cea-tech/leti/english/Pages/What's-On/Press%20release/CEA-Leti-Validates-First-Ultra-Fast-Battery-Operated-EPR-Spectrometer-at-Chip-Scale.aspx (accessed 2026-04-06).