Speedup of nuclear spin diffusion in hyperpolarized solids

Abstract

We propose a correction to the coefficient of nuclear spin diffusion by a factor , where is the average nuclear spin polarization. The correction, derived by extending the Lowe–Gade theory to low-temperature cases, implies that transportation of nuclear magnetization through nuclear spin diffusion accelerates when the system is hyperpolarized, whereas for low polarization the correction factor approaches unity and the diffusion coefficient coincides with the conventional diffusion coefficient valid in the high-temperature limit. The proposed scaling of the nuclear spin diffusion coefficient can lead to observable effects in the buildup of nuclear polarization by dynamic nuclear polarization.