Development of a miniature permanent magnetic circuit for nuclear magnetic resonance chip

Abstract

The existing researches of miniature magnetic circuits focus on the single-sided permanent magnetic circuits and the Halbach permanent magnetic circuits. In the single-sided permanent magnetic circuits, the magnetic flux density is always very low in the work region. In the Halbach permanent magnetic circuits, there are always great difficulties in the manufacturing and assembly process. The static magnetic flux density required for nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR) chip is analyzed based on the signal noise ratio(SNR) calculation model, and then a miniature C-shaped permanent magnetic circuit is designed as the required magnetic flux density. Based on Kirchhoff’s law and magnetic flux refraction principle, the concept of a single shimming ring is proposed to improve the performance of the designed magnetic circuit. Using the finite element method, a comparative calculation is conducted. The calculation results demonstrate that the magnetic circuit improved with a single shimming has higher magnetic flux density and better magnetic field homogeneity than the one improved with no shimming ring or double shimming rings. The proposed magnetic circuit is manufactured and its experimental test platform is also built. The magnetic flux density measured in the work region is 0.7 T, which is well coincided with the theoretical design. The spatial variation of the magnetic field is within the range of the instrument error. At last, the temperature dependence of the magnetic flux density produced by the proposed magnetic circuit is investigated through both theoretical analysis and experimental study, and a linear functional model is obtained. The proposed research is crucial for solving the problem in the application of NMR-chip under different environmental temperatures.