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Updated: Jun 15, 2025

Hyperpolarized Xenon for NMR and MRI Applications
Published on: September 6, 2012
Magnetic-field coils for metastability-exchange optical pumping, spectroscopy, and magnetic resonance of helium
1Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, ENS-Université PSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Collège de France, 24 rue Lhomond, 75005 Paris, France.
Abstract:
Optical pumping on the 23S-23P transition (1083 nm) of metastable 3He or 4He atoms is used for science and applications. Gas is usually enclosed in elongated cells with lengths ranging from several centimeters to several meters for efficient absorption. Good magnetic-field homogeneity is needed for weak diffusion-induced relaxation and long nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) signal lifetimes. A compact coil system is designed using a target-oriented numerical optimization method. It provides a suitably uniform field over cell volumes, with characteristics depending on the chosen optimization parameters. Additional pairs of coils can be used to generate transverse field components with contributions to the total field inhomogeneities that are discussed.
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