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25. June 2025
He originally wanted to be a doctor but decided to follow in his father’s footsteps and pursue physics while still in high school. Just like him, Oleksii Laguta, therefore, joined Taras Shevchenko University in Kyiv and began to study materials using spectroscopy. It was research in this field that eventually brought him to the Czech Republic, specifically to CEITEC BUT, where he is now working on projects in the field of electron spin resonance spectroscopy (ESR) together with Petr Neugebauer.
Both medicine and physics are exciting and scientifically promising fields. What was the moment that finally decided that you would focus on matter and its composition instead of healing people?
We have a lot of doctors in my family, so I was around that environment from a young age, and even at the end of primary school, before I went to high school, I was convinced that I would become a doctor too. But my dad is a physicist, so we had a lot of books and encyclopaedias at home. And as I started to read them all, I actually started to like physics, and around this time, I realized that I wanted to pursue it more than medicine. But my dad didn’t put any pressure on me with physics; he let me find my way. But as you can see, there is no denying the genes, and now I’m in pretty much the same field as him. My dad works at the Institute of Physics of the CAS, and we are currently collaborating on a project.
Which one?
Our topic is related to quantum computing. We’re trying to find a way to control the spin of the electron with an electric field. One of the most promising types of qubits, which are units of quantum information, is based on the spin of the electron and can usually only be controlled by a magnetic field. But that requires an electric current (which is energetically inefficient) and slows down the process. We would therefore like to find a way to manipulate the spin of an electron using an electric field. Which is problematic because an electric field does not interact directly with spin. And so many scientists, including us, are wondering how to find a way to make the spin of the electron sensitive to it.
Why did you choose atomic physics out of all the possible fields? What attracted you to this field?
This field combines two worlds, our ordinary one and the quantum one. Most research looks at materials through the lens of classical physics, where certain laws apply, but quantum mechanics plays by a completely different set of rules. In fact, quantum physics completely contradicts almost all of our experiences and ideas about how the world works, and that’s what I find incredibly fascinating about it. That’s why I decided to pursue spectroscopy and, by extension, high-frequency electron spin resonance spectroscopy (ESR). Because when you study materials and their structure, you are looking at the very basic building blocks of matter, and therefore you can try to better understand how our world really works.
Working in science is very time-consuming, and I suppose exploring the quantum world is no exception. So what does your typical working day look like?
Well, things have been very chaotic in the last few months, as I’ve been mainly writing reports for projects and writing proposals for new ones. But otherwise, my day normally starts at 9 AM in the lab where I work with students. I either help them with their experiments or do my own projects. If I manage to spend at least half a day in the lab, I consider it a success. When we prepare the samples and wait for them to cool down to the right temperature -200 to -270˚C, I have time for administration. But sometimes it is more sitting at the computer in the office than standing in the lab with the instruments, because part of my job is, of course, processing and analysing the measured data, i.e., comparing what I find with mathematical models and simulations.
However, you didn’t fully explore ESR as part of your PhD studies at the University of Lille in France. You used magneto-optical spectroscopy to investigate the properties of materials, right?
Yes, in my PhD project I focused on the magnetooptical properties of bismuth-doped silica glasses, a promising material for optical fibres and lasers in the near-infrared spectral region. Everyone is probably familiar with the fiber optic cable internet; data transmission using optical fibers is probably the most common application. In my case, however, it was more of basic research, where other people and I in the team were looking at, for example, whether our material has suitable properties for such transmission. But I also worked on elucidating the origin of emission bands responsible for lasing in the near-infrared.
How did you get from magneto-optical spectroscopy to electron spin resonance spectroscopy?
After my PhD, I was looking for a "postdoc" position, so I first asked colleagues and friends if they knew of anything interesting. And I found out about the possibility to collaborate with Peter Neugebauer at the University of Stuttgart. Subsequently, we met together to learn more about his projects in the field of electron spin resonance spectroscopy. Of course, I knew about this method and had used it to some extent in my PhD project. And as I was intrigued by his research, I found myself in Germany and started to work with him on the ESR method, even though the work at terahertz frequencies in particular was basically new to me. In 2019, I followed him to CEITEC BUT in Brno, and within the magneto-optical and THz spectroscopy research group that Petr leads, among other things, I’m trying to improve the THz-frequencies ESR method in some way and bring it closer to the scientific communities outside of large ESR-focused labs. Because not every department can afford to work with high-frequency ESR for financial reasons, the instruments are very expensive and require trained personnel.
Is that why you have spent the last five years working on the development of the FRASCAN II spectrometer, which has now won the AMPER 2025 Gold Award?
In principle, yes, because this 329 GHz electron spin resonance spectrometer can significantly expand the capabilities of chemistry and biology labs utilizing nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Firstly, it brings high-frequency ESR to such labs at a fraction of the cost since the most expensive item, a superconducting magnet, is already available as a part of the NMR spectrometer. Secondly, it allows simultaneous ESR and NMR measurements of liquid samples. This is a necessary part of the so-called dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) – a promising technique for improving NMR. In addition, this innovative spectrometer can perform so-called fast frequency scans at speeds of up to 10^16 Hz per second. And it is probably its uniqueness and innovativeness that convinced the expert jury at AMPER, although unlike other exhibits that can go straight to market, our spectrometer is still in the functional prototype stage.
In what applications can such a device be used?
Because of the just-mentioned DNP, it will undoubtedly find its place in biological laboratories, as it is extremely suitable for studying the properties of proteins in their natural environment, for example. Proteins are large molecules with very complex structures. Conventional methods of investigation are rather tedious and have their limits in terms of sensitivity. By enhancing NMR signals, the whole method will not only be faster, but at the same time, its sensitivity will be increased. So the instrument can then be used on a wider range of samples. And thanks to the fast frequency scanning function, we can again study the properties of electron spin relaxation at microwave frequencies around 329 GHz.
The FRASCAN II spectrometer operates at frequencies about 100 times higher than those used in mobile phones. I assume that the higher the frequency, the higher the efficiency and, therefore, the better the results, right?
Yes, it is. Usually, if you go to higher frequencies in spectroscopy, the efficiency and sensitivity of the instrument increase. We can then measure smaller or significantly diluted samples with it, which is critically important, especially in the structural biology research already mentioned. Which brings me back a little bit to the beginning. Such devices are demanding both financially and in terms of personnel. In addition, there are materials that we simply cannot measure at lower frequencies because they are not sensitive to them. In other words, if we subject samples of these materials to examination at low frequencies, we find nothing. Therefore, in some cases, scientists have no choice but to work with ESR at high frequencies, and if they do not have such an instrument, it is a significant complication for their research.
Now I’m very curious. What materials can’t be studied except using high-frequency ESR?
These are, for example, single-molecule magnets – organic molecules with embedded one or more paramagnetic ions (transition and rare earth metals). Below a certain temperature, we call it the blocking temperature, magnetic interactions cause these molecules to behave as magnets, hence the name, meaning they possess a magnetic moment even at zero magnetic field. Above this temperature, they show properties of normal paramagnets. And now I come to the point. There is an idea to use these molecules in data storage devices. Because each molecule can store one bit of information, we can expect a capacity hundreds of times larger than that of ordinary hard drives. The main complication here is that researchers still cannot achieve blocking temperatures higher than 100 K (-173˚C). Interestingly, single-molecule magnets also exhibit quantum phenomena, which make them promising candidates for qubits. Well, this gets to the heart of the matter – quantum bits from such molecules can only be studied using high-frequency ESR devices.
Let's go back to the FRASCAN II spectrometer for a moment. You can use the fast frequency scanning method to study the properties of electron spins. But what makes your method so unique?
Simply put, the FRASCAN II spectrometer overcomes one very limiting technical issue – we do not have enough microwave power to do pulse experiments at 329 GHz. You see, usually, to study dynamic properties of the electron spin, we apply to a sample very strong (hundreds of watts) and short pulses of microwaves and monitor the spins’ response. Instead, our device uses a fast sweep of the excitation microwave frequency over the ESR line. And when the frequency sweep reaches a high enough speed, distinct oscillations appear in the ESR spectrum, which carry information about the electron spin relaxation time. This information is important in investigating suitable qubit candidates, where we look for molecules for which one of the parameters is a relaxation time in the micro- to millisecond interval. And this is possible even with microwave power as low as a few milliwatts.
We talk about qubits, which are central to quantum computers. How do you see our “quantum” future?
That’s a good question. There are still a few unresolved questions in quantum physics, and it’s hard to know today when, if ever, they will be answered. It is quite possible that someone will eventually come up with a completely different idea that is more comprehensive than the current quantum theory. If we look at it from the angle of quantum computers, which are actually an application of this theory, that is where I think we will see a breakthrough in the next few decades, especially in combination with the use of artificial intelligence.
But if I let my imagination run wild, such a connection could also mean the endangerment or extinction of humanity. Aren’t you worried about such a scenario?
I think the merger itself is neither good nor bad. It just is, and those who make it good or bad are always people. Nuclear power is a good example. We can use it for good purposes, such as generating electricity, but we can also basically misuse it to make atomic bombs and kill. Moreover, quantum computers have more or less very limited usability, which goes hand in hand with an absolutely astronomical price tag. This technology is suitable for solving certain tasks, typically complex mathematical operations, but for the general public, it is, and will be for a long time to come, completely unusable. I’m not saying that this may not change in the future, but I’m not sure whether to worry about it now.
Have you ever thought about moving in slightly different directions within the field of spectroscopy?
As a scientist, I never stay still; I am constantly moving around and trying to broaden my topics and approach problems from different angles. But moving to, say, Live Science to working with biological samples in ESR, that I am not considering. If only because I have other projects related to quantum technologies. Like the one I’ve already talked about that deals with electron spin control using an electric field, which I’m working on with my father.
Author: Kristina Blűmelová
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