B-field Strength Research Articles

Flexible MRI Compatible Brain Probes.

The exact localization of signal recording probes or deep stimulation probes by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has significant importance in studying and understanding how the brain functions. But the magnetic susceptibility of the probes itself distorts the MRI image and creates error in position measurement. In this paper we propose an MRI compatible flexible probe with magnetic susceptibility that is well matched with the brain tissue. The well-matched magnetic susceptibility of the probe enables high resolution structural and functional MRI even at ultra-high Bfield strengths. The MRI images shows almost zero artifacts around the implanted probe in the phantom tissue.

Field Distribution of Transcranial Static Magnetic Stimulation in Realistic Human Head Model

The objective of this work was to characterize the magnetic field (B-field) that arises in a human brain model from the application of transcranial static magnetic field stimulation (tSMS). The spatial distribution of the B-field magnitude and gradient of a cylindrical, 5.08 cm × 2.54 cm NdFeB magnet were simulated in air and in a human head model using the finite element method and calibrated with measurements in air. The B-field was simulated for magnet placements over prefrontal, motor, sensory, and visual cortex targets. The impact of magnetic susceptibility of head tissues on the B-field was quantified. Peak B-field magnitude and gradient respectively ranged from 179-245 mT and from 13.3-19.0 T/m across the cortical targets. B-field magnitude, focality, and gradient decreased with magnet-cortex distance. The variation in B-field strength and gradient across the anatomical targets largely arose from the magnet-cortex distance. Head magnetic susceptibilities had negligible impact on the B-field characteristics. The half-maximum focality of the tSMS B-field ranged from 7-12 cm3 . This is the first presentation and characterization of the three-dimensional (3D) spatial distribution of the B-field generated in a human brain model by tSMS. These data can provide quantitative dosing guidance for tSMS applications across various cortical targets and subjects. The finding that the B-field gradient is high near the magnet edges should be considered in studies where neural tissue is placed close to the magnet. The observation that susceptibility has negligible effects confirms assumptions in the literature.

Optimizing beam transport in rapidly compressing beams on the neutralized drift compression experiment – II

The Neutralized Drift Compression Experiment-II (NDCX-II) is an induction linac that generates intense pulses of 1.2 MeV helium ions for heating matter to extreme conditions. Here, we present recent results on optimizing beam transport. The NDCX-II beamline includes a 1-m-long drift section downstream of the last transport solenoid, which is filled with charge-neutralizing plasma that enables rapid longitudinal compression of an intense ion beam against space-charge forces. The transport section on NDCX-II consists of 28 solenoids. Finding optimal field settings for a group of solenoids requires knowledge of the envelope parameters of the beam. Imaging the beam on the scintillator gives the radius of the beam, but the envelope angle is not measured directly. We demonstrate how the parameters of the beam envelope (radius, envelop angle, and emittance) can be reconstructed from a series of images taken by varying the B-field strengths of a solenoid upstream of the scintillator. We use this technique to evaluate emittance at several points in the NDCX-II beamline and for optimizing the trajectory of the beam at the entry of the plasma-filled drift section.

Strong Electric Field in 2D Graphene: The Integer Quantum Hall Regime from a Different (Many-Body) Perspective

We investigate the emerging consequences of an applied strong in-plane electric field on a macroscopically large graphene sheet subjected to a perpendicular magnetic field, by determining in exact analytical form various many-body thermodynamic properties and the Hall coefficient. The results suggest exotic possibilities that necessitate very careful experimental investigation. In this alternate form of Quantum Hall Effect, non-linear phenomena related to the global magnetization, energy and Hall conductivity (the latter depending on the strengths of magnetic B- and electric E-fields) emerge without using perturbation methods, to all orders of E-field and B-field strengths. Interestingly enough, when the value of the electric field is sufficiently strong, fractional quantization also emerges, whose topological stability has to be verified.

Understanding the Links among the Magnetic Fields, Filament, Bipolar Bubble, and Star Formation in RCW 57A Using NIR Polarimetry

Abstract The influence of magnetic fields (B-fields) on the formation and evolution of bipolar bubbles, due to the expanding ionization fronts (I-fronts) driven by the H ii regions that are formed and embedded in filamentary molecular clouds, has not been well-studied yet. In addition to the anisotropic expansion of I-fronts into a filament, B-fields are expected to introduce an additional anisotropic pressure, which might favor the expansion and propagation of I-fronts forming a bipolar bubble. We present results based on near-infrared polarimetric observations toward the central ∼8′ × 8′ area of the star-forming region RCW 57A, which hosts an H ii region, a filament, and a bipolar bubble. Polarization measurements of 178 reddened background stars, out of the 919 detected sources in the JHK s bands, reveal B-fields that thread perpendicularly to the filament long axis. The B-fields exhibit an hourglass morphology that closely follows the structure of the bipolar bubble. The mean B-field strength, estimated using the Chandrasekhar–Fermi method (CF method), is 91 ± 8 μG. B-field pressure dominates over turbulent and thermal pressures. Thermal pressure might act in the same orientation as the B-fields to accelerate the expansion of those I-fronts. The observed morphological correspondence among the B-fields, filament, and bipolar bubble demonstrate that the B-fields are important to the cloud contraction that formed the filament, to the gravitational collapse and star formation in it, and in feedback processes. The last one includes the formation and evolution of mid-infrared bubbles by means of B-field supported propagation and expansion of I-fronts. These may shed light on preexisting conditions favoring the formation of the massive stellar cluster in RCW 57A.

Formula omitted] gradient coherence selection using a tapered stripline

Pulsed-field gradients are common in modern liquid state NMR pulse sequences. They are often used instead of phase cycles for the selection of coherence pathways, thereby decreasing the time required for the NMR experiment. Soft off-resonance pulses with a B1 gradient result in a spatial encoding similar to that created by pulsed-field (B0) gradients. In this manuscript we show that pulse sequences with pulsed-field gradients can easily be converted to one which uses off-resonance B1 field gradient (OFFBEAT) pulses. The advantage of B1 gradient pulses for coherence selection is that the chemical shift evolution during the pulses is (partially) suppressed. Therefore no refocusing echos are required to correct for evolution during the gradient pulses. A tapered stripline is shown to be a convenient tool for creating a well-defined gradient in the B1 field strength. B1 gradient coherence selection using a tapered stripline is a simple and cheap alternative to B0 pulsed-field gradients.

Influence of a transverse magnetic field on the dose deposited by a 6 MV linear accelerator

Abstract An integrated system of a linear accelerator and a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) device may provide real-time imaging during radiotherapy treatments. This work investigated changes affecting the dose deposition caused by a magnetic field (B-field) transverse to the beam direction by means of Monte Carlo simulations. Two different phantoms were used: A water phantom (Ph1) and a water-air phantom (Ph2) with a 4-2-4 cm water-air-water cross section. Dose depositions were scored for B-field values of 0 T, 0.35 T, 0.5 T, 1.5 T, 3 T and 5 T. Beams were based on a precalculated photon spectrum taken from an earlier simulated Elekta 6 MV FFF accelerator. All lateral profiles in Ph1 showed a Lorentz force driven shift w.r.t. the B-field strength, presenting a steeper penumbra in the shift's direction. Depositions were shifted up to 0.3 cm for 5 T, showing a constant central axis plateau-dose or an increase by 2.3 % for small fields. Depth-dose curves in Ph1 showed a shift of the dose maximum towards the beam entrance direction for increasing B-field of up to 1.1 cm; the maximum dose was increased by 6.9 %. In Ph2, an asymmetric dose increase by up to 36.9 % was observed for 1.5 T at the water-air boundary, resulting from the electron return effect (ERE). In our scenario, B-field dependent dose shifts and local build-ups were observed, which consequently affect the resulting dose distribution and need to be considered in magnetic resonance guided radiotherapy treatment planning.

Particle-balance models for pulsed sputtering magnetrons

The time-dependent plasma discharge ionization region model (IRM) has been under continuous development during the past decade and used in several studies of the ionization region of high-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) discharges. In the present work, a complete description of the most recent version of the IRM is given, which includes improvements, such as allowing for returning of the working gas atoms from the target, a separate treatment of hot secondary electrons, addition of doubly charged metal ions, etc. To show the general applicability of the IRM, two different HiPIMS discharges are investigated. The first set concerns 400 μs long discharge pulses applied to an Al target in an Ar atmosphere at 1.8 Pa. The second set focuses on 100 μs long discharge pulses applied to a Ti target in an Ar atmosphere at 0.54 Pa, and explores the effects of varying the magnetic field strength. The model results show that -ions contribute negligibly to the production of secondary electrons, while -ions effectively contribute to the production of secondary electrons. Similarly, the model results show that for an argon discharge with Al target the contribution of Al+-ions to the discharge current at the target surface is over 90% at 800 V. However, at 400 V the Al+-ions and Ar+-ions contribute roughly equally to the discharge current in the initial peak, while in the plateau region Ar+-ions contribute to roughly of the current. For high currents the discharge with Al target develops almost pure self-sputter recycling, while the discharge with Ti target exhibits close to a 50/50 combination of self-sputter recycling and working gas-recycling. For a Ti target, a self-sputter yield significantly below unity makes working gas-recycling necessary at high currents. For the discharge with Ti target, a decrease in the B-field strength, resulted in a corresponding stepwise increase in the discharge resistivity.

Zeeman effect experiment with high-resolution spectroscopy for advanced physics laboratory

An experiment studying the physics underlying the Zeeman effect and the Paschen-Back effect is developed for an advanced physics laboratory. We have improved upon the standard Zeeman effect experiment by eliminating the Fabry-Perot etalon, so that virtually any emission line in the visible spectrum can be analyzed. The magnetic field is provided by neodymium magnets. Light emitted in the ∼1 T field is analyzed by a Czerny-Turner spectrograph equipped with medium-dispersion grating and small-pixel imaging CCD. A spectral resolution under 1 pm/pixel is achieved. The splitting of argon and helium lines is measured as a function of field strength. The proportionality of the splitting magnitude to the B-field strength and to λ2 is demonstrated. The Bohr magneton is calculated and compared to the theoretical value.

Tracing the Magnetic Field of IRDC G028.23-00.19 Using NIR Polarimetry

Abstract The importance of the magnetic (B) field in the formation of infrared dark clouds (IRDCs) and massive stars is an ongoing topic of investigation. We studied the plane-of-sky B field for one IRDC, G028.23-00.19, to understand the interaction between the field and the cloud. We used near-IR background starlight polarimetry to probe the B field and performed several observational tests to assess the field importance. The polarimetric data, taken with the Mimir instrument, consisted of H-band and K-band observations, totaling 17,160 stellar measurements. We traced the plane-of-sky B-field morphology with respect to the sky-projected cloud elongation. We also found the relationship between the estimated B-field strength and gas volume density, and we computed estimates of the normalized mass-to-magnetic flux ratio. The B-field orientation with respect to the cloud did not show a preferred alignment, but it did exhibit a large-scale pattern. The plane-of-sky B-field strengths ranged from 10 to 165 μG, and the B-field strength dependence on density followed a power law with an index consistent with 2/3. The mass-to-magnetic flux ratio also increased as a function of density. The relative orientations and relationship between the B field and density imply that the B field was not dynamically important in the formation of the IRDC. The increase in mass-to-flux ratio as a function of density, though, indicates a dynamically important B field. Therefore, it is unclear whether the B field influenced the formation of G28.23. However, it is likely that the presence of the IRDC changed the local B-field morphology.

Local measure of the electromagnetic field in magnetic resonance coils: How do simulations help to disentangle the contributions of the electric and magnetic fields?

The development of probes for Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy of metabolites, biomolecules or materials requires the accurate determination of the radio-frequency (RF) magnetic field strength, B1, at the position of the sample since this RF-field strength is related to the signal sensitivity and the excitation bandwidth. The Ball Shift (BS) technique is a commonly employed test bench method to measure the B1 value. Nevertheless, the influence of the RF electric field, E1, on BS is often overlooked. Herein, we derive, from Maxwell equations, an analytical expression of the BS, which shows the contribution of both the electric and magnetic energies to the BS value. This equation shows that the BS allows quantifying the B1 field strength only in regions where the electric energy is small with respect to the magnetic one. The numerical simulations of electromagnetic (EM) field and energy prove that this condition is fulfilled at 100.5MHz inside the electrically balanced coil of a double-resonance 1H/X 4mm Magic Angle Spinning (MAS) probe since for that circuit, the center of the coil is an antinode for the B1 standing wave and a node for the E1 one. We also show that the simulated BS values agree well with the experimental ones. Conversely, NMR experiments show that the contribution of the electric energy to BS becomes significant when the X channel of this probe is connected to a frequency splitter. In that case, the use of BS method to estimate the B1 value is compromised.

THE MAGNETIC FIELD OF L1544. I. NEAR-INFRARED POLARIMETRY AND THE NON-UNIFORM ENVELOPE

ABSTRACT The magnetic field (B-field) of the starless dark cloud L1544 has been studied using near-infrared (NIR) background starlight polarimetry (BSP) and archival data in order to characterize the properties of the plane-of-sky B-field. NIR linear polarization measurements of over 1700 stars were obtained in the H band and 201 of these were also measured in the K band. The NIR BSP properties are correlated with reddening, as traced using the Rayleigh–Jeans color excess (H–M) method, and with thermal dust emission from the L1544 cloud and envelope seen in Herschel maps. The NIR polarization position angles change at the location of the cloud and exhibit their lowest dispersion there, offering strong evidence that NIR polarization traces the plane-of-sky B-field of L1544. In this paper, the uniformity of the plane-of-sky B-field in the envelope region of L1544 is quantitatively assessed. This allows evaluation of the approach of assuming uniform field geometry when measuring relative mass-to-flux ratios in the cloud envelope and core based on averaging of the radio Zeeman observations in the envelope, as done by Crutcher et al. In L1544, the NIR BSP shows the envelope B-field to be significantly non-uniform and likely not suitable for averaging Zeeman properties without treating intrinsic variations. Deeper analyses of the NIR BSP and related data sets, including estimates of the B-field strength and testing how it varies with position and gas density, are the subjects of later papers in this series.

Potential for high-permittivity materials to reduce local SAR at a pacemaker lead tip during MRI of the head with a body transmit coil at 3 T.

To illustrate the potential for high permittivity materials to be used in decreasing peak local SAR associated with implants when the imaging region is far from the implant. We performed numerical simulations of a human subject with a pacemaker in a body-sized birdcage coil driven at 128 MHz with and without a thin (5 mm) shell of material of high electric permittivity around the head. For a shell with relative permittivity of 600, the maximum specific energy absorption rate averaged over any 1 g of tissue near the pacemaker was reduced by 73.5% for a given B1 field strength at the center of the brain. Although further study is required, initial simulations indicate that strategic use of high permittivity materials may broaden the conditions under which patients with certain implants can be imaged safely. Magn Reson Med 78:383-386, 2017. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

Enhancement of fast electron energy deposition by external magnetic fields

Recently, generation of external magnetic fields of a few kT has been reported [Fujioka et al. Scientific Reports 2013 3 1170]. These fields can be used in fast ignition to mitigate the large fast electron divergence. In this summary, two fast ignition applications are briefly outlined. The first one deals with electron guiding by external B-fields applied at the end of the shell implosion of a re-entrant cone target. Preliminary results show that the B-field strength at the time of peak ρR may be sufficiently high for fast electron guiding. The second application deals with guiding of fast electrons in magnetized wires surrounded by plasma. Results show a significant enhancement of electron energy deposition at the end of the wire, which is particularly important for low-Z wires.

Research on an pump-probe rubidium magnetometer

In order to measure a weak alternating magnetic field, an optically-pumped Rb magnetometer based on pump-probe structure is investigated and demonstrated. The pumping light and probing light propagate along the z axis and x axis, respectively. A constant polarization magnetic field along the pumping light is applied, which not only stabilizes the polarization of Rb atoms but also tunes resonance frequency of Rb atoms. When a weak alternating magnetic field is applied perpendicularly to the constant magnetic field, the magnetic moment will tip off the z axis and rotate around the z axis. And then the polarization plane of probing light is modulated correspondingly. The x component of the magnetic moment can be obtained with a balanced detector. As a result, a signal proportional to weak alternating magnetic field can be obtained.In order to obtain the magnetic response of the magnetometer, we analyze the signal amplitude as a function of polarization magnetic field strength B0 and transverse relaxation time 2 with numerical simulation. The amplitude-frequency response of the magnetometer is determined mainly by two parameters, namely cutoff frequency c=1/2 and resonance frequency 0= B0, where is the gyromagnetic ratio of Rb atom. At low frequency, that is a0 and a 0c2, the magnetometer has a flat response, here a is the frequency of the weak alternating magnetic field. If 0c, the signal amplitude will be large for large 0 or small c. For a given c, the peak response appears at 0=c. In the vicinity of resonance frequency, if c0, a peak will appear and if c 0, no peak occurs. At high frequency, the amplitude will decrease with the increase of a.We verify the above analyses in experiment. A vapor cell with a short transverse relaxation time is used to obtain large frequency response bandwidth. Through optimizing the powers and frequencies of pumping laser and probing laser, high polarization and detection sensitivity of atomic spin can be obtained. Moreover, through choosing an appropriate polarization magnetic field, the magnetometer can be maximally sensitive to the magnetic field to be measured. The experimental results show that the magnetometer has a sensitivity of about m 0.2; pT/HzHz and bandwidth of about 3.5 kHz. It can be used to detect low field magnetic resonance and high frequency abnormal physical phenomena.

The effect of magnetic field on chiral transmission in p-n-p graphene junctions

We investigate Klein tunneling in graphene heterojunctions under the influence of a perpendicular magnetic field via the non-equilibrium Green’s function method. We find that the angular dependence of electron transmission is deflected sideways, resulting in the suppression of normally incident electrons and overall decrease in conductance. The off-normal symmetry axis of the transmission profile was analytically derived. Overall tunneling conductance decreases to almost zero regardless of the potential barrier height when the magnetic field (B-field) exceeds a critical value, thus achieving effective confinement of Dirac fermions. The critical field occurs when the width of the magnetic field region matches the diameter of the cyclotron orbit. The potential barrier also induces distinct Fabry-Pérot fringe patterns, with a “constriction region” of low transmission when is close to the Fermi energy. Application of B-field deflects the Fabry-Pérot interference pattern to an off-normal angle. Thus, the conductance of the graphene heterojunctions can be sharply modulated by adjusting the B-field strength and the potential barrier height relative to the Fermi energy.

The effect of changing the magnetic field strength on HiPIMS deposition rates

The marked difference in behaviour between HiPIMS and conventional dc or pulsed-dc magnetron sputtering discharges with changing magnetic field strengths is demonstrated through measurements of deposition rate. To provide a comparison between techniques the same circular magnetron was operated in the three excitation modes at a fixed average power of 680 W and a pressure of 0.54 Pa in the non-reactive sputtering of titanium. The total magnetic field strength B at the cathode surface in the middle of the racetrack was varied from 195 to 380 G. DC and pulsed-dc discharges show the expected behaviour that deposition rates fall with decreasing B (here by ~25–40%), however the opposite trend is observed in HiPIMS with deposition rates rising by a factor of 2 over the same decrease in B.These observations are understood from the stand point of the different composition and transport processes of the depositing metal flux between the techniques. In HiPIMS, this flux is largely ionic and slow post-ionized sputtered particles are subject to strong back attraction to the target by a retarding plasma potential structure ahead of them. The height of this potential barrier is known to increase with increasing B.From a simple phenomenological model of the sputtered particles fluxes, and using the measured deposition rates from the different techniques as inputs, the combined probabilities of ionization, α, and back attraction, β, of the metal species in HiPIMS has been calculated. There is a clear fall in αβ (from ~0.9 to ~0.7) with decreasing B-field strengths, we argue primarily due to a weakening of electrostatic ion back attraction, so leading to higher deposition rates. The results indicate that careful design of magnetron field strengths should be considered to optimise HiPIMS deposition rates.

Mixed convective elastico-viscous fluid flow past a porous plate in presence of induced magnetic field and energy dissipations

A mixed convective hydro-magnetic flow of visco-elastic fluid past an infinite vertical porous surface with constant suction has been investigated in presence of heat and mass transfer. Visco-elastic fluid flow is characterized by Walters liquid (Model B’) for short relaxation memories. A magnetic field of strength B0 is applied along the transverse direction to the surface. To study the governing fluid motion, we have considered the effects of induced magnetic field and magnetic dissipations of energy. Mechanism of heat transfer arises from mixed convection along with dissipation of energy due to viscosity. Let Tw and Cw be respectively the temperature and the molar species concentration of the fluid at the surface. To solve the governing equations of motion, we have used multi-parameter perturbation scheme. Two non-dimensional numbers taken as perturbation parameters are Eckert number and visco-elastic parameter. The results are discussed graphically for the various values of elastico-viscous parameter along with other values of flow parameters involved in the solution.

Saturation pulse design for quantitative myocardial T1 mapping.

BackgroundQuantitative saturation-recovery based T1 mapping sequences are less sensitive to systematic errors than the Modified Look-Locker Inversion recovery (MOLLI) technique but require high performance saturation pulses. We propose to optimize adiabatic and pulse train saturation pulses for quantitative T1 mapping to have <1 % absolute residual longitudinal magnetization (|MZ/M0|) over ranges of B0 and {widehat{B}}_1 (B1 scale factor) inhomogeneity found at 1.5 T and 3 T.MethodsDesign parameters for an adiabatic BIR4-90 pulse were optimized for improved performance within 1.5 T B0 (±120 Hz) and {widehat{B}}_1 (0.7–1.0) ranges. Flip angles in hard pulse trains of 3–6 pulses were optimized for 1.5 T and 3 T, with consideration of T1 values, field inhomogeneities (B0 = ±240 Hz and {widehat{B}}_1 =0.4–1.2 at 3 T), and maximum achievable B1 field strength. Residual MZ/M0 was simulated and measured experimentally for current standard and optimized saturation pulses in phantoms and in-vivo human studies. T1 maps were acquired at 3 T in human subjects and a swine using a SAturation recovery single-SHot Acquisition (SASHA) technique with a standard 90°-90°-90° and an optimized 6-pulse train.ResultsMeasured residual MZ/M0 in phantoms had excellent agreement with simulations over a wide range of B0 and {widehat{B}}_1 . The optimized BIR4-90 reduced the maximum residual |MZ/M0| to <1 %, a 5.8× reduction compared to a reference BIR4-90. An optimized 3-pulse train achieved a maximum residual |MZ/M0| <1 % for the 1.5 T optimization range compared to 11.3 % for a standard 90°-90°-90° pulse train, while a 6-pulse train met this target for the wider 3 T ranges of B0 and {widehat{B}}_1 . The 6-pulse train demonstrated more uniform saturation across both the myocardium and entire field of view than other saturation pulses in human studies. T1 maps were more spatially homogeneous with 6-pulse train SASHA than the reference 90°-90°-90° SASHA in both human and animal studies.ConclusionsAdiabatic and pulse train saturation pulses optimized for different constraints found at 1.5 T and 3 T achieved <1 % residual |MZ/M0| in phantom experiments, enabling greater accuracy in quantitative saturation recovery T1 imaging.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12968-015-0187-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Tilted microstrip phased arrays with improved electromagnetic decoupling for ultrahigh-field magnetic resonance imaging.

One of the technical challenges in designing a dedicated transceiver radio frequency (RF) array for MR imaging in humans at ultrahigh magnetic fields is how to effectively decouple the resonant elements of the array. In this work, we propose a new approach using tilted microstrip array elements for improving the decoupling performance and potentially parallel imaging capability.To investigate and validate the proposed design technique, an 8-channel volume array with tilted straight-type microstrip elements was designed, capable for human imaging at the ultrahigh field of 7 Tesla. In this volume transceiver array, its electromagnetic decoupling behavior among resonant elements, RF field penetration to biological samples, and parallel imaging performance were studied through bench tests and in vivo MR imaging experiments.In this specific tilted element array design, decoupling among array elements changes with the tilted angle of the elements and the best decoupling can be achieved at certain tilted angle. In vivo human knee MR images were acquired using the tilted volume array at 7 Tesla for method validation.Results of this study demonstrated that the electromagnetic decoupling between array elements and the B1 field strength can be improved by using the tilted element method in microstrip RF coil array designs at the ultrahigh field of 7T.