Multiple echoes due to distant dipolar fields in NMR of hyperpolarized noble gas solutions

Abstract

We report on multiple echo measurements in hyperpolarized liquids using optically pumped spin-1/2 noble gas atoms: either 129 Xe dissolved in cyclohexane or 3 He dissolved in superfluid 4 He. An NMR pulse sequence 90 • − τ − 90 • (with slice-selective flipping pulses for 129 Xe experiments) was used and long echo trains have been observed in the presence of applied gradients due to average dipolar fields typically one order of magnitude larger than those of bulk water in high magnetic fields. We show that a mean field description is valid for explaining the multiple echoes observed in these liquids, even for spin temperatures as low as 10 mK for 129 Xe or 10 µK for 3 He, and the echoes originate from the distant dipolar fields within the samples. Numerical lattice simulations have been used to assess the effects of slice selection and of finite sample size in addition to those of atomic diffusion. They account for the observed echo widths and amplitudes much better than previously published models which disregard finite size effects that appear to be of key importance. This opens the way to using multiple echoes resulting from distant dipolar fields for the determination of the absolute magnetization in hyperpolarized liquids without signal calibration.

Signal feedback applications in low-field NMR and MRI

“…We use inductive FB to study the influence of distant dipolar fields (DDF) on NMR dynamics in highly polarised liquids [35,36,37] and in particular the complex interplay between RD and DDF which results for instance in multiple maser emissions [38]. In our low temperature experiments, the PU coil was a pair of saddle shaped windings connected in series, 3.4 cm long and 1.7 cm in diameter, with 30 turns each of 60-µm-diameter enamelled copper wire (L = 0.14 mH).…”