Abstract
Nuclear spin singlet lifetimes can often exceed the T1 length scales by a large factor. This property makes them suitable for polarization storage. The measurement of such long lifetimes itself can become challenging due to the influence of even very weak relaxation mechanisms. Here we show that a judicious choice of the singlet-to-triplet conversion method is highly important in order to achieve reliable singlet relaxation measurements. In particular, we identify thermal convection, in connection with B1 field gradients, as a significant apparent decay mechanism, which limits the ability to measure the true singlet state lifetimes. Highly B1-compensated broadband singlet excitation/detection sequences are shown to minimize the influence of macroscopic molecular motion and B1 inhomogeneity.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1-7 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Journal of Magnetic Resonance |
Volume | 284 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Nov 2017 |
Keywords
- Composite pulses
- Convection
- M2S
- SLIC
- Singlet order
- Singlet relaxation
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biophysics
- Biochemistry
- Nuclear and High Energy Physics
- Condensed Matter Physics