Bruker BioSpin is celebrating its first order for an Elexsys E780 system, dubbed the world’s first commercial mm-wave 263 Gigahertz (GHz) EPR (electron paramagnetic resonance) spectrometer. The order was received from the Helmholtz-Zentrum in Berlin and will be used for researching new EPR applications in solar energy technology. It marks the first step in a collaborative research partnership between the two companies on EPR probe development for electrical detection.
Claimed to be the first tool to allow the use of 263GHz EPR technology routinely, the E780 features multiple turnkey operation modes including CW-EPR, Pulse-EPR, ENDOR and ELDOR. The system is said to have cost the Berlin research company $2.2 million, which cost was supported by the recently introduced Konjunkturpaket, a German stimulus package.
“With this new instrument we will be able to identify important details about the structure of defects in thin-film silicon solar cells,” remarked Dr. Klaus Lips from Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, coordinator of the German research network EPR-Solar. “I am very grateful to the Federal Ministry of Research and Education (BMBF) for their financial support. The unique E780 spectrometer will strengthen our worldwide leadership in EPR research in the photovoltaic community.”
