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Title: Polarization enhanced Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance with an atomic magnetometer

Abstract

Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance (NQR) has been demonstrated for the detection of 14-N in explosive compounds. Application of a material specific radio-frequency (RF) pulse excites a response typically detected with a wire- wound antenna. NQR is non-contact and material specific, however fields produced by NQR are typically very weak, making demonstration of practical utility challenging. For certain materials, the NQR signal can be increased by transferring polarization from hydrogen nuclei to nitrogen nuclei using external magnetic fields. This polarization enhancement (PE) can enhance the NQR signal by an order of magnitude or more. Atomic magnetometers (AM) have been shown to improve detection sensitivity beyond a conventional antenna by a similar amount. AM sensors are immune to piezo-electric effects that hamper conventional NQR, and can be combined to form a gradiometer for effective RF noise cancellation. In principle, combining polarization enhancement with atomic magnetometer detection should yield improvement in signal-to-noise ratio that is the product of the two methods, 100-fold or more over conventional NQR. However both methods are even more exotic than traditional NQR, and have never been combined due to challenges in operating a large magnetic field and ultra-sensitive magnetic field sensor in proximity. Furthermore we present NQR with andmore » without PE with an atomic magnetometer, demonstrating signal enhancement greater than 20-fold for ammonium nitrate. We also demonstrate PE for PETN using a traditional coil for detection with an enhancement factor of 10. Experimental methods and future applications are discussed.« less

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1];  [2]; ORCiD logo [1];  [3];  [3];  [3]
+ Show Author Affiliations
  1. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
  2. QUASAR Federal Systems, San Diego, CA (United States)
  3. NIITEK, Inc., Dulles, VA (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Defense Programs (DP)
OSTI Identifier:
1544757
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-16-21713
Journal ID: ISSN 0277-786X
Grant/Contract Number:  
89233218CNA000001
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 9823; Conference: SPIE Defense + Security, Baltimore, MD (United States), 18-21 Aug 2016; Journal ID: ISSN 0277-786X
Publisher:
SPIE
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS; 47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION; NQR; polarization enhancement; ammonium nitrate; PETN; atomic magnetometers; coil; standoff detection

Citation Formats

Malone, Michael W., Barrall, Geoffrey A., Espy, Michelle A., Monti, Mark C., Alexson, Dimitri A., and Okamitsu, Jeffrey K. Polarization enhanced Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance with an atomic magnetometer. United States: N. p., 2016. Web. doi:10.1117/12.2224070.
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Malone, Michael W., Barrall, Geoffrey A., Espy, Michelle A., Monti, Mark C., Alexson, Dimitri A., & Okamitsu, Jeffrey K. Polarization enhanced Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance with an atomic magnetometer. United States. https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2224070
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Malone, Michael W., Barrall, Geoffrey A., Espy, Michelle A., Monti, Mark C., Alexson, Dimitri A., and Okamitsu, Jeffrey K. Tue . "Polarization enhanced Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance with an atomic magnetometer". United States. https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2224070. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1544757.
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@article{osti_1544757,
title = {Polarization enhanced Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance with an atomic magnetometer},
author = {Malone, Michael W. and Barrall, Geoffrey A. and Espy, Michelle A. and Monti, Mark C. and Alexson, Dimitri A. and Okamitsu, Jeffrey K.},
abstractNote = {Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance (NQR) has been demonstrated for the detection of 14-N in explosive compounds. Application of a material specific radio-frequency (RF) pulse excites a response typically detected with a wire- wound antenna. NQR is non-contact and material specific, however fields produced by NQR are typically very weak, making demonstration of practical utility challenging. For certain materials, the NQR signal can be increased by transferring polarization from hydrogen nuclei to nitrogen nuclei using external magnetic fields. This polarization enhancement (PE) can enhance the NQR signal by an order of magnitude or more. Atomic magnetometers (AM) have been shown to improve detection sensitivity beyond a conventional antenna by a similar amount. AM sensors are immune to piezo-electric effects that hamper conventional NQR, and can be combined to form a gradiometer for effective RF noise cancellation. In principle, combining polarization enhancement with atomic magnetometer detection should yield improvement in signal-to-noise ratio that is the product of the two methods, 100-fold or more over conventional NQR. However both methods are even more exotic than traditional NQR, and have never been combined due to challenges in operating a large magnetic field and ultra-sensitive magnetic field sensor in proximity. Furthermore we present NQR with and without PE with an atomic magnetometer, demonstrating signal enhancement greater than 20-fold for ammonium nitrate. We also demonstrate PE for PETN using a traditional coil for detection with an enhancement factor of 10. Experimental methods and future applications are discussed.},
doi = {10.1117/12.2224070},
journal = {Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering},
number = ,
volume = 9823,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue May 03 00:00:00 EDT 2016},
month = {Tue May 03 00:00:00 EDT 2016}
}
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Publisher's Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2224070
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