Detection of J-coupling using atomic magnetometer
An embodiment of a method of detecting a J-coupling includes providing a polarized analyte adjacent to a vapor cell of an atomic magnetometer; and measuring one or more J-coupling parameters using the atomic magnetometer. According to an embodiment, measuring the one or more J-coupling parameters includes detecting a magnetic field created by the polarized analyte as the magnetic field evolves under a J-coupling interaction.
1. A method of detecting a J-coupling comprising:
(a) providing an analyte in a detector cell adjacent to a vapor cell of an atomic magnetometer, the analyte being polarized, the detector cell and the vapor cell being housed in a magnetic shield that isolates the detector cell and the vapor cell in a static magnetic field;
(b) applying a magnetic field pulse to the analyte in the detector cell; and
(c) detecting a magnetic field generated by the analyte using the atomic magnetometer as a magnetization of the analyte evolves under one or more J-coupling interactions.
2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
polarizing the analyte before operation (a).
3. The method of claim 2 wherein polarizing the analyte employs a polarization technique selected from a group consisting of thermalization in a magnetic field, spin-exchange optical pumping, para-hydrogen induced polarization, and dynamic nuclear polarization.
4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
transporting the analyte to the detector cell.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more J-coupling interactions are selected from a group consisting of a heteronuclear scalar coupling, a homonuclear scalar coupling, and a combination thereof.
6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
generating a graph of the one or more J-coupling interactions.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein a magnitude of the static magnetic field is less than about 2.5 nanotesla.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein a larmor precession frequency of the analyte is less than about 100 mHz in the static magnetic field.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein a magnitude of the static magnetic field is less than about 100 microtesla.
10. The method of claim 1 wherein the magnetic field pulse is applied by applying a pulse of DC current to coils positioned in the magnetic shield.
11. The method of claim 1 wherein a magnitude of the static magnetic field is less than about 1 millitesla.