UC Berkeley

The availability of high-sensitivity magnetic sensors such as alkali vapor-cell magnetometers has fueled a growing body of literature on the development of inexpensive, portable and robust magnetic resonance systems which operate in ultra-low magnetic fields. This work covers the design, construction and operation of such a magnetometer, and its use as a high-sensitivity low-field detector of in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiments, including zero-field J-spectroscopy, relaxometry and diffusometry. In particular, we have attempted to demonstrate the utility of these devices for 1- and 2-dimensional relaxometry and diffusometry measurements, which are currently a significant commercial application of low-field NMR.