ULF-NMR system using HTS-SQUID and permanent magnet

We have constructed an ultra-low field (ULF) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)/magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system using an HTS-rf-SQUID and room-temperature electromagnets in a magnetically shielded room (MSR). In this study, in order to improve the signal to noise ratio (S/N) of the system, we introduced a permanent magnet instead of the electromagnet for pre-polarizing the sample to enhance the pre-polarizing field (Bp). The cylindrical permanent magnet of 270 mT was used to magnetize a water sample for several seconds outside the MSR and about 1.5 m away from the SQUID. We constructed an instrument to transfer the magnetized sample from the permanent magnet to under the SQUID in 0.5 s. Since the non-adiabatic condition cannot be kept in such sample transfer scheme, an AC pulse coil to apply an AC pulse field BAC to rotate the magnetization moments for π/2 was introduced to measure a free induction decay (FID) signal from the sample. By this system, we obtained an NMR signal from the water sample of 10 ml while applying a static field of 45 μT and π/2 pulse after the transfer. The S/N of the NMR spectrum was about 100 by a single shot, which was 10 times larger than that obtained with the electromagnet of 32 mT. In addition, we demonstrated the measurements of the longitudinal relaxation time (T1) and the spin echo signal of the water sample by the system.

► A permanent magnet was introduced into a ULF SQUID-NMR system for polarization.
► An instrument to transfer a sample in the magnet to under a SQUID was implemented.
► An AC pulse coil was also introduced to apply a π/2 pulse to obtain an NMR signal.
► A 1H NMR signal was measured while applying a static field of 45 μT.
► The signal to noise ratio of the 1H NMR signal was about 100.