Fabrication of 3D-printed PCTFE material cups for dynamic nuclear polarization target at cryogenic temperatures

Abstract

We present a novel method of 3D printing with the fluoroplastic Kel-F (PCTFE) that was used to create target material cups for dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) experiments. Kel-F is used in DNP targets because it has several properties that make it well-suited to this purpose: transparency to millimeter-waves, plasticity at cryogenic temperatures, and the absence of hydrogen that would add an unwanted background to NMR signals used to measure proton polarization. A custom filament production device called the Filatizer was developed that processes commercially available rods of Kel-F into a 1.75-mm diameter filament that was 3D printed using a Prusa i3 Mk2.5S modified to achieve the high temperatures (~ 400 C) needed to melt the material and with copper-based components replaced to reduce material decomposition. This printing process does not significantly alter Kel-F's properties, and we demonstrate the first 3D-printed Kel-F target cups successfully used in DNP enhancement.