Real-Time Polarimetry of Hyperpolarized 13 C Nuclear Spins Using an Atomic Magnetometer

• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2301.06607
• Publication Date: 2023-01-30
• Authors: Mouloudakis, Kostas; Bodenstedt, Sven; Azagra, Marc; Mitchell, Morgan W.; Marco-Rius, Irene; Tayler, Michael C...
• Keywords: Chemical Physics (physics.chem-ph); Magnetic resonance; Atomic Physics (physics.atom-ph); Physics - Chemical Physics; Ressonància magnètica; Nuclear spin; FOS: Physical sciences; Spin (Física nuclear); 01 natural sciences; Physics - Atomic Physics; 0104 chemical sciences

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.