Konstantin Ivanov Intercontinental Magnetic Resonance Seminar

Konstantin Ivanov intercontinental magnetic resonance seminar series started on April 8, 2020. It organises seminars on a range of topics in magnetic resonance covering NMR, EPR, hyperpolarisation, colour centres and optical pumping, and ZULF NMR. The emphasis of the talks are on both methods and applications and a perspective on the future of the field. The speakers include a wide range of scientists ranging from PhD students to post-doctoral fellows, to senior scientists.

Upcoming Talks:

• October 16, 2026, Dmitrii Aleshin, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel, "Radiation damping: from coupled signals in d-DNP to phase transitions in steady-state free precession", Radiation damping (RD) is commonly regarded as an “unwanted” effect in high-field NMR that researchers actively try to avoid. However, in highly polarized systems, its “pulse-like” feedback cannot be ignored and may lead to surprising nonlinear behavior which is not possible in conventional NMR. In this talk, we will discuss two such cases. First, in water dissolution DNP (the “HyperW” experiment), we show how massive water polarization induces extreme RD that fundamentally couples solute resonances with the water signal and produces phase and amplitude distortions in proton spectra, which are superimposed on cross-relaxation and chemical exchange effects. Second, we will demonstrate how RD fundamentally changes Steady-State Free Precession (SSFP) dynamics. We will show, both theoretically and experimentally, that in such cases two qualitatively distinct SSFP regimes may arise: a prethermal one dominated by RD, and the established one predicted by Carr. The transition between these two regimes corresponds to a dynamical bifurcation, with a sharp dependence on offset, flip angle, and a strong dependence on repetition time that is absent in conventional SSFP treatments. The associated transition time increases asymptotically with respect to control (e.g., flip-angle) parameters, a hallmark of nonlinear systems. Consequences and potential applications of such behavior will be briefly discussed.

• October 23, 2026, Morgane Callon, CNRS/Univ. of Lyon, France

• October 30, 2026, Claudia Tait, University of Oxford, UK, "Following charge generation and recombination in organic photovoltaics with magnetic resonance", Spin states and spin-dependent processes play a central role in charge generation and recombination in organic photovoltaics. In this talk, I will present our investigation of a series of donor:acceptor systems using transient electron spin resonance (ESR) and electrically detected magnetic resonance (EDMR). Transient ESR spectroscopy allows us to characterise the initial charge separation process by following the evolution of the spin polarisation patterns of charge-transfer states and separated charges. Through theoretical modelling and simulation of the experimental results, we identified competing charge separation pathways and re-encounter of separated charges. Complementary EDMR measurements on functioning photovoltaic devices selectively probe spins directly involved in current generation. Using a series of pulse EDMR experiments, we identified contributions from different charge recombination mechanisms.

• November 6, 2026, Matthias Ernst, ETH Zurich, Switzerland

• November 13, 2026, Vipin Agarwal, TIFR Hyderabad, India

• November 20, 2026, Irene Ceccolini, Johannes Kepler University, Linz, Austria

• November 27, 2026, David Bryce, Univ. of Ottawa, Canada

• December 4, 2027, Gregory Tricot, University of Lille, France

• December 11, 2026, Kshama Sharma, CNRS Lyon, France

• December 18, 2026,  Hannah Busch, RWTH Aachen University, Germany

• December 25, 2026-January 8, 2027, No seminars, Winter break.

• January 15, 2027, Leonardo Le, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany 

• January 22, 2027, Nino Wili, ETH Zurich, Switzerland