13C Hyperpolarization with Nitrogen-Vacancy Centers in Micro- and Nanodiamonds for Sensitive Magnetic Resonance Applications
Abstract
Nuclear hyperpolarization is a known method to enhance the signal in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) by orders of magnitude. The present work addresses the 13C hyperpolarization in diamond micro- and nanoparticles, using the optically-pumped nitrogen-vacancy center (NV) to polarize 13C spins at room temperature. Consequences of the small particle size are mitigated by using a combination of surface treatment improving the 13C relaxation (T1) time, as well as that of NV, and applying a technique for NV illumination based on a microphotonic structure. Monitoring the light-induced redistribution of the NV spin state populations with electron paramagnetic resonance, a strong polarization enhancement for the NV spin state is observed in a narrow spectral region corresponding to about 4\% of these defect centers. By combining adjustments to the `PulsePol' sequence and slow sample rotation, the NV-13C polarization transfer rate is improved further. The hyperpolarized 13C NMR signal is observed in particles of 2 μm and 100 nm median sizes, with enhancements over the thermal signal (at 0.29 T magnetic field), of 1500 and 940, respectively. The present demonstration of room-temperature hyperpolarization anticipates the development of agents based on nanoparticles for sensitive magnetic resonance applications.
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