Zero- and Low-Field NMR with Atomic Magnetometers for Chemical Analysis and Imaging

在化学测量和成像计划的支持下，教授。加州大学伯克利分校的亚历山大派恩斯和德米特里·巴克尔及其研究小组正在开发基于零磁场下J耦合系统的核磁共振（NMR）光谱的化学分析新方法，使用高灵敏度原子磁力计监测NMR信号。 J耦合是高场NMR光谱中的重要参数，产生关于分子键合和核自旋拓扑的重要信息，并且对于确定分子结构和功能至关重要。使用原子磁力计在零磁场下检测这种耦合的优点是原子磁力计对低频信号的高灵敏度，以及极高的绝对磁场均匀性，产生非常窄的磁共振线以获得高分辨率。 主要目标包括灵敏度的优化、零场多维光谱中用于去耦和再耦合特定异质耦合的多脉冲序列的开发、用于增强信号的仲氢诱导极化的研究以及基于零场J谱的基本化学指纹库的开发。它是生物医学和其它磁共振成像应用的核心。 这项基础研究正在通过开发和采用新的方法来创建和测量相关信号来扩展NMR的能力。 通过推进灵敏原子磁力计的开发，这项工作将使便携式低场磁共振成像传感器能够在从地球物理和空间研究到医学到基本对称性测试的各种领域中具有潜在的应用。 它为多个学科的本科生和研究生提供培训，并为几名博士后研究人员提供指导。

With support from the Chemical Measurement and Imaging Program, Profs. Alexander Pines and Dmitry Budker and their groups at the University of California - Berkeley are developing novel methods in chemical analysis based on nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy of J-coupled systems at zero magnetic-field, using high sensitivity atomic magnetometers to monitor NMR signals. J-couplings are an important parameter in high-field NMR spectroscopy yielding important information about molecular bonding and nuclear spin topology, and are crucial for determination of molecular structure and function. The advantages of using atomic magnetometers to detect such couplings at zero magnetic-field are the high sensitivity of atomic magnetometers to low frequency signals, and the extremely high absolute magnetic field homogeneity, yielding very narrow magnetic resonance lines for high resolution. Major goals include optimization of sensitivity, development of multi-pulse sequences for decoupling and recoupling specific heteronuclear couplings in zero-field multidimensional spectroscopy, investigation of parahydrogen-induced polarization for enhancing signal, and the development of a rudimentary chemical fingerprinting library based on zero field J-spectra.NMR is widely used to characterize materials across nearly all branches of the physical and biological sciences; it is the core of biomedical and other magnetic resonance imaging applications. This fundamental research is expanding the capabilities of NMR by developing and employing new approaches to creating and measuring the associated signals. By advancing the development of sensitive atomic magnetometers, the work will enable portable, low-field magnetic resonance imaging sensors with potential application in a wide variety of fields, ranging from geophysical and space research to medicine to tests of fundamental symmetries. It is providing training to both undergraduate and graduate students in multiple disciplines, as well as mentoring for several postdoctoral researchers.