Wide dynamic range magnetic field cycler and ultra portable optical nanodiamond hyperpolarizer

{
  "publication_number": "US11531076B2",
  "country": "US",
  "kind": "B2",
  "title": "Wide dynamic range magnetic field cycler and ultra portable optical nanodiamond hyperpolarizer",
  "abstract": "A system can include: a superconducting or permanent magnet; a high field portion corresponding to the superconducting or permanent magnet, wherein the high field has a range of 0.1-20 T; a low field portion positioned outside of the superconducting or permanent magnet, wherein the low field has a range of 0.01 nT-100 mT; a shuttling mechanism configured to deliver a sample between the low field portion and the high field portion; and a polarization sub-assembly configured to hyperpolarize the sample while the sample is within the low field portion. A device can be configured to cause nuclear spin hyperpolarization in diamond particles such that the hyperpolarization is transferable to at least one of an external liquid or an external solid. A process of hyperpolarizing substances can include applying optical illumination to the substance, irradiating the substance with a series of microwave signals as one of either a single signal or as a frequency comb to hyperpolarize the nuclei in the substance, and relaying polarization to nuclear spins of one of a surrounding solid or fluid.",
  "claims": [
    "1. A system, comprising: a superconducting or permanent magnet; a high field portion corresponding to the superconducting or permanent magnet, wherein the high field has a range of 0.1-20 T; a low field portion positioned adjacent a magnetic shield, the magnetic shield between the low field portion and the superconducting or permanent magnet, wherein the low field has a range of 0.01 nT-100 mT; a shuttling mechanism connected to the high field portion and the low field portion configured to transport a sample between the low field portion and the high field portion; and a polarization sub-assembly comprising a microwave source configured to apply microwaves to the sample and a laser configured to continuously apply laser light to the sample simultaneous to the microwaves to hyperpolarize the sample while the sample is within the low field portion.",
    "2. The system of claim 1, wherein the shuttling mechanism includes a servo motor.",
    "3. The system of claim 1, wherein the shuttling mechanism includes a pneumatic motion device.",
    "4. The system of claim 1, wherein the substance includes diamond particles in single-crystal, or micro-sized or nano-sized powder.",
    "5. The system of claim 1, wherein the shuttling mechanism includes: a conveyer belt; a rod; and a tube attached to the rod and configured to travel along the conveyer belt.",
    "6. The system of claim 5, wherein the rod is made of carbon fiber.",
    "7. The system of claim 1, wherein the shuttling mechanism has a shuttling speed up to 2 m/s with an acceleration of up to 30 m/s 2.",
    "8. The system of claim 1, wherein the superconducting magnet is a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) magnet.",
    "9. A method of hyperpolarizing substances, comprising: applying optical illumination to a substance; irradiating the substance with a series of microwave signals as one of either a single signal or as a frequency comb to hyperpolarize the nuclei in the substance; and coaxing hyperpolarization into nuclear spins of one of a surrounding solid or fluid.",
    "10. The method of claim 9, wherein the substance includes diamond particles in single-crystal, or micro-sized or nano-sized powder.",
    "11. The method of claim 10, where the signal from the 13 C in the diamond can be sign inverted with high fidelity.",
    "12. The method of claim 11, wherein diamonds are used as agents to background suppress NMR/MRI signals.",
    "13. A portable hyperpolarizer, comprising: a sample holder configured to hold a sample; a laser source configured to direct optical illumination at the sample in the sample holder; at least one microwave generator to direct microwaves at the sample, such that the optical illumination and the microwaves cause hyperpolarization in the sample: and a housing configured to support the sample holder, the laser diode, and at least one microwave generator.",
    "14. The hyperpolarizer of claim 13, further comprising an interface to at least one of either a nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer or a magnetic resonance imaging machine.",
    "15. The hyperpolarizer of claim 13 configured to serve as a contrast agent for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).",
    "16. The hyperpolarizer of claim 13, wherein the housing is compact, rigid, and lightweight.",
    "17. The hyperpolarizer of claim 16, wherein the housing is made of aluminum.",
    "18. The hyperpolarizer of claim 13, wherein the laser source includes a laser diode.",
    "19. The hyper polarizer of claim 13, wherein the laser source includes a multiple fiber coupled laser configuration.",
    "20. The hyperpolarizer of claim 13, wherein the substance includes diamond particles in single-crystal, or micro-sized or nano-sized powder.",
    "21. The hyperpolarizer of claim 13, wherein the hyperpolarization in the sample is transferable to one of either an external solid or an external liquid.",
    "22. The hyperpolarizer of claim 13 configured with tubing for liquid flow of polarized diamond samples and surrounding liquid to and from the device."
  ],
  "description_excerpt": "The last few decades have witnessed rapid strides in high-field superconducting magnet technology, with fields >20 T and inhomogeneities better than 1 ppm routinely available, fueling several recent advances in biomolecular nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). In parallel, there has been a silent revolution in the development of magnetic shielding technology, with specialized alloys of mu-metal providing shielding factors >1 million, and extinguishing fields to <0.1 nT in a relatively large volume.\n\nFrom a physical point of view, both these extreme regimes of ultra-high and ultra-low magnetic fields provide uniquely complimentary advantages. In quantum information science, for instance, high fields provide a means to store and protect quantum information due to long spin relaxation times (T 1). For instance, the electronic spin associated with the nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond - which has emerged as a promising platform for quantum information processing, simulation and metrology - has a T 1 of over 10 ms. In addition, high fields provide the ability to apply highly selective quantum control often with <1 ppm resolution; and gains in measurement, especially bulk inductive spin readout, where SNR scale favorably, ∝B 7/4. Ultra-low to zero fields, on the other hand, provide the alternative advantages of spin indistinguishably - spins even of completely different species act identically, allowing easy construction of Hamiltonian models in naturally occurring spin networks, and the access to heteronuclear spin singlets with long lifetimes.",
  "cpc": [
    "G01R 33/282",
    "A61B 5/055",
    "G01N 24/12",
    "G01R 33/307",
    "G01R 33/34023",
    "G01R 33/62"
  ],
  "ipc": [
    "G01R 33/28",
    "G01R 33/30",
    "G01R 33/34"
  ],
  "assignees": [
    "University of California San Diego UCSD"
  ],
  "inventors": [
    "Ashok Ajoy",
    "Emanuel Druga",
    "Alexis Morabe",
    "Kristina Song Liu",
    "Alexander Pines",
    "Raffi Nazaryan"
  ],
  "filing_date": "2018-11-01",
  "publication_date": "2022-12-20",
  "grant_date": "2022-12-20",
  "priority_date": "2017-11-03",
  "application_number": "US-201816761462-A",
  "family_id": "66333398",
  "cited_by_count": 3,
  "citations": [
    "WO2007082048A2",
    "US20090252686A1",
    "US20080106261A1",
    "US7521928B2",
    "US20140223923A1",
    "US20130327615A1",
    "US8807322B2",
    "EP2727709A1",
    "US20150115691A1",
    "US20160169998A1",
    "US20180149717A1",
    "US20190369175A1"
  ]
}