Teaming up the weak with the strong: Increasing sensitivity of nuclear magnetic resonance with the help of electrons
Prof. Dr. Walter Koeckenberger (Sir Peter Mansfield Magnetic Resonance Centre, School of Physics & Astronomy, University of Nottingham, UK)

Techniques based on nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) are widely used in spectroscopic and imaging applications in chemistry, physics and biological and medical sciences. The major advantage offered by these techniques is the easy identification of chemical compounds via their specific resonance lines and, particularly relevant for medical applications, the non-invasive detection of the NMR signal. The major drawback is the relatively low sensitivity of these methods under normal experimental conditions due to the weak nuclear Zeeman effect. However, it is possible to generate non-thermal nuclear spin polarisation by exploiting the coupling between the electron and nuclear spin ensembles. This interesting spin physics effect can be used, under certain conditions, to increase the NMR signal by more than a factor of 104 in comparison to the signal arising from the thermally polarised nuclear spin ensemble. The dramatic increase in the signal can be used to accelerate conventional NMR spectroscopy experiments cutting down the experimental time from days to milliseconds or improve the sensitivity for the in vivo detection of low concentrated endogenous molecules in medical magnetic resonance imaging experiments. In my talk I will explain the spin physics involved, and the hardware challenges that need to be overcome when implementing and optimising this strategy. Finally, I will describe a set of applications of this strategy, which provides a nice example of a technique that has its origins in physics and a huge potential in chemistry and medical applications.