Magnetic Resonance in Surface Science

Abstract

The spectroscopic techniques of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR or ESR) have been known for more than 30 years. Only in the past 15 years, however, have they been widely applied in the field of surface science. In principle EPR spectroscopy is limited to observation of surface species containing unpaired electrons. These may include adsorbed radicals, molecules containing unpaired electrons (e.g., NO), transitional metal ions and surface defects of various types. Furthermore, EPR is a highly sensitive technique, able to detect (in favourable cases) as few as 1011 spins. NMR spectroscopy, on the other hand, is much broader in scope, since there are many different nuclei possessing non-zero nuclear spins. As a surface technique however, NMR suffers the disadvantage of having a relatively low sensitivity. Both EPR and NMR provide information about the structure and environment of the species being observed, in a completely nondestructive manner.KeywordsNuclear Magnetic ResonanceElectron Spin ResonanceNuclear Magnetic Resonance SpectrumNuclear Magnetic Resonance SpectroscopyFree Induction DecayThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.