NMR: Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) occurs when photons are resonantly absorbed and emitted by transitions between different energy levels of a nucleus in a magnetic field. NMR has applications ranging from fundamental physics to oil prospecting, and from quantum computers to medical imaging. NMR related Nobel Prizes include I.I. Rabi (Physics 1944), Felix Bloch and Edward Purcell (Physics 1952), Richard Ernst (Chemistry 1991), Kurt Wüthrich (Chemistry 2002), and Paul Lauterbur and Peter Mansfield (Medicine 2003). The goals of this experiment are to explore basic NMR methods, measure the magnetic moment of the proton, and to use NMR to probe the environment of the protons in materials.
There are currently an old and a new NMR apparatus. The current write-up is for the old apparatus. The primary reference for students using the new apparatus is the TeachSpin manual.
Write-Up for old apparatus in PDF Format or Microsoft Word Format.
(The experiment is currently located in MP239; last write-up revisions: October 2014.)
Manuals:
- Spectrum Analyzer manual.
- Gaussmeter manual.
- Interactive oscilloscope manual.
- TeachSpin CW/NMR on Quercus. (This is for APL use only and must not be copied or distributed!)
Additional resources:
- A few reports on NMR related research.
(For interest only, you don't need to read any of them to do the experiment.)
- Researchers increase NMR/MRI sensitivity through hyperpolarization of nuclei in diamond, L. Yarris, Phys.org, 5 June 2013.
- Diamond defects shrink MRI to the nanoscale, K. Sanderson, Nature, 31 January 2013.
- Long live the spin, A. Trabesinger, Nature Physics 8 (2012) 781-782.
- 143 is largest number yet to be factored by a quantum algorithm, L. Zyga, Phys.org, 11 April 2012.
- NMR spectroscopy without the 'M', T. Wogan, physicsworld.com, 29 May 2011.
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging: From Spin Physics to Medical Diagnosis, P.-J. Nacher, Progress in Mathematical Physics 55 (2009) 159-153.
- Probing Oil Wells with NMR, R.L. Kleinberg, The Industrial Physicist 2 (1996) 18-21.
- A video playlist explaining basic NMR concepts recommended by student Raphael Schweiger F. Bottairi.
