Time-resolved EPR spectroscopy in a Unix environment

A computer-aided time-resolved electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectrometer implemented under version 2.9 BSD Unix was developed by interfacing a Varian E-9 EPR spectrometer and a Biomation 805 waveform recorder to a PDP-11/23A minicomputer having MINC A/D and D/A capabilities. Special problems with real-time data acquisition in a multiuser, multitasking Unix environment, addressing of computer main memory for the control of hardware devices, and limitation of computer main memory were resolved, and their solutions are presented. The time-resolved EPR system and the data acquisition and analysis programs, written entirely in C, are described. Furthermore, the benefits of utilizing the Unix operating system and the C language are discussed, and system performance is illustrated with time-resolved EPR spectra of the reaction center cation in photosystem 1 of green plant photosynthesis.