Echoes were first detected in nuclear magnetic resonance by Erwin Hahn in 1950, and spin echoes are sometimes referred to as Hahn echoes. In nuclear magnetic resonance and magnetic resonance imaging, radiofrequency radiation is most commonly used.
In 1972 F. Mezei introduced spin-echo neutron scattering, a technique that can be used to study magnons and phonons in single crystals. The technique is now applied in research facilities using triple axis spectrometers.
In 2020 two teams demonstrated  that when strongly coupling an ensemble of spins to a resonator, the Hahn pulse sequence does not just lead to a single echo, but rather to a whole train of periodic echoes. In this process the first Hahn echo acts back on the spins as a refocusing pulse, leading to self-stimulated secondary echoes.