Real-time polarimetry of hyperpolarized ${}^{13}$C nuclear spins using an atomic magnetometer

Abstract

We introduce a method for non-destructive quantification of nuclear spin polarization, of relevance to hyperpolarized spin tracers widely used in magnetic resonance from spectroscopy to in vivo imaging. In a bias field of around 30 nT we use a high-sensitivity miniaturized ${}^{87}$Rb vapor magnetometer to measure the field generated by the sample, as it is driven by a windowed dynamical decoupling pulse sequence that both maximizes the nuclear spin lifetime and modulates the polarization for easy detection. We demonstrate the procedure applied to a 0.08 M hyperpolarized [1--${}^{13}$C]-pyruvate solution produced by dissolution dynamic nuclear polarization, measuring polarization repeatedly during natural decay at Earth's field. Application to real-time quality monitoring of hyperpolarized substances is discussed.

References in corpus (3)

• Instrumentation for nuclear magnetic resonance in zero and ultralow magnetic field
• Hyperpolarized solution-state NMR spectroscopy with optically polarized crystals
• Decoupling of Spin Decoherence Paths near Zero Magnetic Field

Cited by in corpus (5)

• Zero- to Ultralow-field Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
• Functionalized mm-scale vapor cells for alkali-metal spectroscopy and magnetometry
• Live magnetic observation of parahydrogen hyperpolarization dynamics
• Characterization of Nuclear Magnetism at Ultralow and Zero Field using SQUIDs
• Local, mm-scale ${}^1$H magnetic resonance imaging using atomic vapors