NIST - National Institute of Standards and Technology

04/24/2026 | Press release | Archived content

Electron Spin Resonance Sensor for Portable and Adaptable Retrospective Dosimetry

Published
April 24, 2026

Author(s)

Pragya Shrestha, Kin Cheung, Robert Gougelet, Stephen Moxim, Ileana Pazos, Jason Campbell

Abstract

The demand for portable, versatile, cost-effective and high-performance tools for radiation dosimetry has increased in recent years. The development of a new, highly portable electron spin resonance (ESR) instrument represents a signifi-cant breakthrough with potential applications in a wide range of fields, including medical physics, radiation protection, emergency response and environmental monitoring. This new technique incorporates a versatile sample holder and a low-power magnet setup, which is made possible by a broadband non-resonant interferometric detection technique. The paper discusses the details of instrumentation of this portable tool, including the sample holder, magnet, and detector, and presents a detailed discussion of this new technique, its advantages and limitations, and its potential applications for radiation dosimetry in various settings. Using Alanine and Li-Formate, two most studied ESR dosimeters, doses ranging from 2 Gy to 100 kGy are detected, demonstrating the relevance of this setup to a wide range of retrospective dosimetry applications. The demonstration of this broadband ESR detection using the non-resonant interferometric technique crys-tallizes its contribution to the advancement of portable instrumentation technology.
Citation
ACS Sensors
Pub Type
Journals

Keywords

Radiation Dosimetry, Electron Spin Resonance, Alanine, Lithium-formate, emergency response

Citation

Shrestha, P. , Cheung, K. , Gougelet, R. , Moxim, S. , Pazos, I. and Campbell, J. (2026), Electron Spin Resonance Sensor for Portable and Adaptable Retrospective Dosimetry, ACS Sensors, [online], https://doi.org/10.1021/acssensors.5c02440, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=960105 (Accessed April 29, 2026)
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NIST - National Institute of Standards and Technology published this content on April 24, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on April 29, 2026 at 09:27 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]