Real-Time Polarimetry of Hyperpolarized 13C Nuclear Spins Using an Atomic Magnetometer

• Published in: The journal of physical chemistry letters Vol. 14; no. 5; pp. 1192 - 1197
• Main Authors: Mouloudakis, Kostas, Bodenstedt, Sven, Azagra, Marc, Mitchell, Morgan W., Marco-Rius, Irene, Tayler, Michael C. D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Chemical Society 09.02.2023
• Subjects: Physical Insights into Light Interacting with Matter
• ISSN: 1948-7185; 1948-7185
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.2c03864

We introduce a method for nondestructive quantification of nuclear spin polarization, of relevance to hyperpolarized spin tracers widely used in magnetic resonance from spectroscopy to in vivo imaging. In a bias field of around 30 nT we use a high-sensitivity miniaturized 87Rb-vapor magnetometer to measure the field generated by the sample, as it is driven by a windowed dynamical decoupling pulse sequence that both maximizes the nuclear spin lifetime and modulates the polarization for easy detection. We demonstrate the procedure applied to a 0.08 M hyperpolarized [1–13C]-pyruvate solution produced by dissolution dynamic nuclear polarization, measuring polarization repeatedly during natural decay at Earth’s field. Application to real-time and continuous quality monitoring of hyperpolarized substances is discussed.