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Languages : en
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Book Description
NMR and NQR at low frequencies are difficult prospects due to small nuclear spin polarization. Furthermore, the sensitivity'of the inductive pickup circuitry of standard spectrometers is reduced as the frequency is lowered. I have used a cw-SQUID (Superconducting QUantum Interference Device) spectrometer, which has no such frequency dependence, to study the local atomic environment of 14N via the quadrupolar interaction. Because 14N has spin I = 1 and a 0-6 MHz frequency range, it is not possible to obtain well-resolved spectra in high magnetic fields. I have used a technique to observe 14N NQR resonances via their effect on neighboring protons mediated by the heteronuclear dipolar interaction to study peptides and narcotics. The sensitivity of the SQUID is not enough to measure low-frequency surface (or other low spin density) systems. The application of spin-polarized xenon has been previously used to enhance polarization in conventional NMR experiments. Because xenon only polarizes spins with which it is in contact, it is surface selective. While differences in chemical shifts between surface and bulk spins are not large, it is expected that the differences in quadrupole coupling constant should be very large due to the drastic change of the electric field gradient surrounding spins at the surface. With this in mind, I have taken preliminary steps to measure SQUID detected polarization transfer from Xe to another spin species at 4.2 K and in small magnetic fields (
