Thermal relaxation and coherence dynamics of spin 3/2. I. Static and fluctuating quadrupolar interactions in the multipole basis

Abstract

AbstractThe relaxation dynamics of the spin 3/2 density operator in the presence of fluctuating and static quadrupolar interactions is reviewed. The nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) line shapes are analyzed for any value of the static quadrupolar interaction, ranging from isotropic systems to systems exhibiting large splitting far exceeding the line widths. Pulse sequences optimized for the elimination of line broadening due to an inhomogeneous static quadrupolar interaction and for the detection of nuclei involved in slow molecular motion and/or in anisotropic, liquid crystalline environment are discussed. In Part II, the dynamics of spin 3/2 in the presence of a (pulsed) radio frequency (RF) field is reviewed. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Concepts Magn Reson Part A 19A: 97–116, 2003.