Desktop fast-field cycling nuclear magnetic resonance relaxometer

Abstract

In this paper a new type of Fast Field Cycling (FFC) Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) relaxometer with low power consumption (200W) and cycle to cycle field stability better than 10(-4) is described. The new high-permeability magnet was designed to allow for good magnetic field homogeneity and allows for the sample rotation around an axis perpendicular to magnetic field, operating with magnetic fields between 0 and 0.21T. The power supply of the new relaxometer was specially developed in order to have steady state accurate currents and allow for magnetic field switching times less than 3ms. Additional control circuits were developed and included to compensate the Earth magnetic field component parallel to the field axis and to compensate for parasitic currents. The main aspects of the developed circuits together with some calibrating experimental results using the liquid crystal compounds 5CB and 8CB are presented and discussed.