title: An optimized microfabricated platform for the optical generation and detection of hyperpolarized129Xe.
abstract: Low thermal-equilibrium nuclear spin polarizations and the need for sophisticated instrumentation render conventional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and imaging (MRI) incompatible with small-scale microfluidic devices. Hyperpolarized129Xe gas has found use in the study of many materials but has required very large and expensive instrumentation. Recently a microfabricated device with modest instrumentation demonstrated all-optical hyperpolarization and detection of129Xe gas. This device was limited by129Xe polarizations less than 1%,129Xe NMR signals smaller than 20 nT, and transport of hyperpolarized129Xe over millimeter lengths. Higher polarizations, versatile detection schemes, and flow of129Xe over larger distances are desirable for wider applications. Here we demonstrate an ultra-sensitive microfabricated platform that achieves129Xe polarizations reaching 7%, NMR signals exceeding 1 μT, lifetimes up to 6 s, and simultaneous two-mode detection, consisting of a high-sensitivity in situ channel with signal-to-noise of 105and a lower-sensitivity ex situ detection channel which may be useful in a wider variety of conditions.129Xe is hyperpolarized and detected in locations more than 1 cm apart. Our versatile device is an optimal platform for microfluidic magnetic resonance in particular, but equally attractive for wider nuclear spin applications benefitting from ultra-sensitive detection, long coherences, and simple instrumentation.
authors.affiliation: Materials Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, USA.|Department of Chemistry, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Kennedy
authors.affiliation: Materials Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, USA.|Department of Chemistry, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA.
authors.forename: Scott J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Seltzer
authors.affiliation: Time and Frequency Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, Colorado, USA.|Department of Physics, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA.
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jiménez-Martínez
authors.affiliation: Materials Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, USA.|Department of Chemistry, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA.
authors.forename: Hattie L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Ring
authors.affiliation: Materials Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, USA.
authors.forename: Nicolas S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Malecek
authors.affiliation: Time and Frequency Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, Colorado, USA.
authors.forename: Svenja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Knappe
authors.affiliation: Time and Frequency Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, Colorado, USA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Donley
authors.affiliation: Time and Frequency Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, Colorado, USA.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kitching
authors.affiliation: Materials Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, USA.|Department of Chemistry, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA.
authors.forename: Vikram S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Bajaj
authors.affiliation: Materials Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, USA.|Department of Chemistry, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pines