Magnetic field compensation for field-cycling NMR Relaxometry in the ULF band

Abstract

In setting up field-cycling experiments aimed to study physical phenomena in the low-field region, magnetic field contributions from external sources (earth’s field, environment, other magnets, etc.) become important. Indeed, a compensation of these contributions has successfully been used for the application of field-cycling methods to nuclear magnetic relaxation and double resonance experiments. This feature becomes relevant in samples where local fields are stronly averaged due to motional narrowing, on the ground that relaxation experiments can therefore be extended to lower fields. Compensation of external contributions is also crucial for the study of kinky processes related to internal local fields. In this article we outline NMR field-cycling experiments aimed to detect and quantify the external net magnetic field sensed by the spin-system. Both parallel and normal components with respect to the high-field Zeeman axis can be determined separately by using different experimental protocols.