Multiple echoes due to distant dipolar fields in NMR of hyperpolarized noble gas solutions

Abstract

We report on multiple echo measurements in hyperpolarized liquids using optically pumped spin-1/2 noble gas atoms: either ¹²⁹Xe dissolved in cyclohexane or ³He dissolved in superfluid ⁴He. An NMR pulse sequence 90° − τ − 90° (with slice-selective flipping pulses for ¹²⁹Xe experiments) was used and long echo trains have been observed in the presence of applied gradients due to average dipolar fields typically one order of magnitude larger than those of bulk water in high magnetic fields. We show that a mean field description is valid for explaining the multiple echoes observed in these liquids, even for spin temperatures as low as 10mK for ¹²⁹Xe or 10μK for ³He, and the echoes originate from the distant dipolar fields within the samples. Numerical lattice simulations have been used to assess the effects of slice selection and of finite sample size in addition to those of atomic diffusion. They account for the observed echo widths and amplitudes much better than previously published models, which disregard finite size effects that appear to be of key importance. This opens the way to using multiple echoes resulting from distant dipolar fields for the determination of the absolute magnetization in hyperpolarized liquids without signal calibration.