Decay of multispin multiple-quantum coherent states in the NMR of a solid and the stabilization of their intensity profile with time

Abstract

Variations, experimentally observed in [14], in the intensity profiles of multiple-quantum (MQ) coherences in the presence of two special types of perturbations are explained on the basis of the theory, earlier developed by the authors, of the growth of the effective size of correlated clusters (the number of correlated spins) and the relaxation of MQ coherent states [23]. The intensity and the character of perturbation were controlled by the experimenters. It is shown that the observed stabilization of profiles with time is not associated with the stabilization of the cluster size. Quite the contrary, a cluster of correlated spins monotonically grows, while the observed variations in the intensity profile and its stabilization with time are attributed to the dependence of the decay rate of an MQ coherence on its order (its position in the MQ spectrum). The results of the theory are in good agreement with the experimental data.