A Nanoscale Evanescent Wave Magnetic Resonance Probe

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposed research strives to develop a novel high-resolution and high-sensitivity evanescent wave magnetic resonance probe for molecular biomedical research. Conventional NMR technique can determine molecular structure of large ensemble of homogenous molecules through precise measurement of chemical shift of nuclear spin resonance in a uniform magnetic field, while imaging technique, MRI, lost this critical capability due to its high field gradient needed for imaging. We propose here to develop novel magnetic resonance detection technology with optimized sensitivity and resolution. Through two-phase R&D, our ultimate goal is to demonstrate magnetic resonance detection of single biological molecules with spatial resolution of 10 nm. The proposed technology, an Evanescence-Wave Magnetic Resonance Probe (EWMRP), integrates many aspects of well-established magnetic resonance technology with a novel evanescence-wave (microwave or RF) emission/detection device and a novel atomic-resolution force microscopy element. The spatially resolved spin resonance is realized through evanescent wave generated at the probe tip rather than magnetic field gradient. Therefore, this technology offers the capability of probing precise chemical shifts of differently situated nuclei locally. The proposed EWMR probe will be able to provide simultaneously high spatial resolution, high contrast topography and high sensitivity spin magnetic resonance spectroscopy, which is expected to have profound implications for in situ study of biochemical processes of a single molecule (e.g., a protein) and its sub-structures, on a surface or inside a cell.