Comparison of experimental times in T₁-D and D-T₂ correlation experiments in single-sided NMR

Diffusion-relaxation correlation experiments in nuclear magnetic resonance are a powerful technique for the characterization of fluid dynamics in confined geometries or soft matter, in which relaxation may be either spin-spin (T₂) or spin-lattice (T₁). The general approach is to acquire a set of bidimensional data in which diffusion is codified by the evolution of the magnetization with either Hahn or stimulated echoes (STE) in the presence of a constant magnetic field gradient. While T₂ is codified by a Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gil (CPMG) sequence, T₁ is either encoded by saturation or inversion-recovery methods. In this work, we analyse the measurement time of diffusion-relaxation times in single-sided NMR and show that T₁-D acquisition is always shorter than D-T₂. Depending on the hardware characteristics, this time reduction can be up to an order of magnitude. We present analytical calculations and examples in model porous media saturated with water and in a dairy product.