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Title: Nuclear magnetic resonance with dc SQUID (Super-conducting QUantum Interference Device) preamplifiers

Conference ·
OSTI ID:6225439

Sensitive radio-frequency (rf) amplifiers based on dc Superconducting QUantum Interface Devices (SQUIDS) are available for frequencies up to 200 MHz. At 4.2 K, the gain and noise temperature of a typical tuned amplifier are 18.6 +- 0.5 dB and 1.7 +- 0.5 K at 93 MHz. These amplifiers are being applied to a series of novel experiments on nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR). The high sensitivity of these amplifiers was demonstrated in the observation of ''nuclear spin noise'', the emission of photons by /sup 35/Cl nuclei in a state of zero polarization. In the more conventional experiments in which one applies a large rf pulse to the spins, a Q-spoiler, consisting of a series array of Josephson junctions, is used to reduce the Q of the input circuit to a very low value during the pulse. The Q-spoiler enables the circuit to recover quickly after the pulse, and has been used in an NQR experiment to achieve a sensitivity of about 2 /times/ 10/sup 16/ nuclear Bohr magnetons in a single free precession signal with a bandwidth of 10 kHz. In a third experiment, a sample containing /sup 35/Cl nuclei was placed in a capacitor and the signal detected electrically using a tuned SQUID amplifier and Q-spoiler. In this way, the electrical polarization induced by the precessing Cl nuclear quadrupole moments was detected: this is the inverse of the Stark effect in NQR. Two experiments involving NMR have been carried out. In the first, the 30 MHz resonance in /sup 119/Sn nuclei is detected with a tuned amplifier and Q-spoiler, and a single pulse resolution of 10/sup 18/ nuclear Bohr magnetons in a bandwidth of 25 kHz has been achieved. For the second, a low frequency NMR system has been developed that uses an untuned input circuit coupled to the SQUID. The resonance in /sup 195/Pt nuclei has been observed at 55 kHz in a field of 60 gauss. 23 refs., 11 figs.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley Lab., CA (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
AC03-76SF00098
OSTI ID:
6225439
Report Number(s):
LBL-26234; CONF-880812-42; ON: DE89007657
Resource Relation:
Conference: Applied superconductivity conference, San Francisco, CA, USA, 21 Aug 1988; Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English