Hyperpolarized xenon nuclear spins detected by optical atomic magnetometry

We report the use of an atomic magnetometer based on nonlinear magneto-optical rotation with frequency-modulated light to detect nuclear magnetization of xenon gas. The magnetization of a spin-exchange-polarized xenon sample (1.7 c m(3) at a pressure of 5 bars, natural isotopic abundance, polarization 1% ), prepared remotely to the detection apparatus, is measured with an atomic sensor. An average magnetic field of approximately 10 nG induced by the xenon sample on the 10 cm diameter atomic sensor is detected with signal-to-noise ratio approximately 10 , limited by residual noise in the magnetic environment. The possibility of using modern atomic magnetometers as detectors of nuclear magnetic resonance and in magnetic resonance imaging is discussed. Atomic magnetometers appear to be ideally suited for emerging low-field and remote-detection magnetic resonance applications.     

High-frequency spin-valve effect in a ferromagnet-semiconductor-ferromagnet structure based on precession of the injected spins

A new mechanism of magnetoresistance, based on tunneling emission of spin-polarized electrons from ferromagnets (FM) into semiconductors (S) and precession of electron spin in the semiconductor layer under external magnetic field, is described. The FM-S-FM structure is considered, which includes very thin heavily doped (delta-doped) layers at FM-S interfaces. At certain parameters the structure is highly sensitive at room temperature to variations of the field with frequencies up to 100 GHz. The current oscillates with the field, and its relative amplitude is determined only by the spin polarizations of FM-S junctions.     

On precession of entangled spins in a strong laser field

A dynamics of the entanglement under an environmental influence is modelled by a bound state composed of two heavy particles interacting with a strong laser. Adopting the semiclassical attitude, a trajectory of the bound state’s center-of-mass is found from the Newton equations solved beyond the dipole approximation and taking into account the magnetic field effect. At the same time the dynamics of constituent spins under the laser coupling is studied quantum mechanically solving the nonrelativistic von Neumann equation with the effective Hamiltonian determined by the bound state’s classical trajectory. Based on the solution, the effects of an intense linearly polarized monochromatic plane wave on the precession of entangled spins are discussed for a specific kind of mixed initial states including a family of maximally entangled Werner states. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Modified steady-state free precession pulse sequences for the detection of pure nuclear quadrupole resonance

Modifications of the steady-state free precession multi-pulse technique for the effective detection of the nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) signals are proposed. These modifications are based on the use of composite pulses and enable the suppression of the coherent noise signals such as the magneto-acoustic and piezo-electric signals or the ringing signal from the NQR probe. Experimental results of applying the proposed technique to nitrogen-14 NQR in the sample of C6H12N4 are also presented and convincingly demonstrate its effectiveness.     

Optical pumping of quantum-dot nuclear spins

Hyperfine interactions with randomly oriented nuclear spins present a fundamental decoherence mechanism for electron spin in a quantum dot, that can be suppressed by polarizing the nuclear spins. Here, we analyze an all-optical scheme that uses hyperfine interactions to implement laser cooling of quantum-dot nuclear spins. The limitation imposed on spin cooling by the dark states for collective spin relaxation can be overcome by modulating the electron wave function.     

Thermal diffusivity and nuclear spin relaxation: a continuous wave free precession NMR study

Continuous wave free precession (CWFP) nuclear magnetic resonance is capable of yielding quantitative and easily obtainable information concerning the kinetics of processes that change the relaxation rates of the nuclear spins through the action of some external agent. In the present application, heat flow from a natural rubber sample to a liquid nitrogen thermal bath caused a large temperature gradient leading to a non-equilibrium temperature distribution. The ensuing local changes in the relaxation rates could be monitored by the decay of the CWFP signals and, from the decays, it was possible to ascertain the prevalence of a diffusive process and to obtain an average value for the thermal diffusivity.     

Superradiation of a system of nuclear spins

The superradiation of a system of nuclear spins is investigated taking into account the broadening of the NMR spectrum due to the stochasticity of the local magnetic field. The effect of the local field generated by nuclear spins randomly distributed in space is investigated. In this case it is possible to achieve better agreement with the experimentally observed characteristics of this phenomenon. Specifically, the possibility of a monopulse regime with a high initial inversion of the spin polarization is explained.     

Solutions of free higher spins in AdS

We consider free massive and massless higher integer spins in AdS backgrounds in general D dimensions. We obtain the solutions corresponding to the highest-weight state of the spin-? representations of the SO(2,D−1) isometry groups. The solution for the spin-? field is expressed recursively in terms of that for the spin-(?−1). Thus starting from the explicit spin-0, all the higher-spin solutions can be obtained. These solutions allow us to derive the generalized Breitenlohner-Freedman bound, and analyze the asymptotic falloffs. In particular, solutions with negative mass square in general have falloffs slower than those of the Schwarzschild AdS black holes in the AdS boundaries.     

基于金刚石氮-空位色心的精密磁测量

磁是一种重要的物理现象,对其进行精密测量推动了许多科技领域的发展.各类测磁技术,包括霍尔传感器、超导量子干涉仪、自旋磁共振等,都致力于提升空间分辨率和灵敏度.近年来,金刚石中的氮-空位色心广受关注.这一固态单自旋体系具有许多优点,例如易于初始化和读出、可操控、具有较长相干时间等,这使得它不仅在量子信息、量子计算等领域崭露头角,而且在量子精密测量上显现出巨大的应用前景.基于氮-空位色心,利用动力学解耦、关联谱等技术,已实现若干高灵敏度、高分辨率的微观磁共振实验,其中包括纳米尺度乃至单分子、单自旋的核磁共振和电子顺磁共振.氮-空位色心也可以用于微波和射频信号的精密测量.本文对围绕上述主题开展的一系列研究工作进行综述.     

Dynamic nuclear polarization with single electron spins

We polarize nuclear spins in a GaAs double quantum dot by controlling two-electron spin states near the anticrossing of the singlet (S) and m(S)= +1 triplet (T+) using pulsed gates. An initialized S state is cyclically brought into resonance with the T+ state, where hyperfine fields drive rapid rotations between S and T+, "flipping" an electron spin and "flopping" a nuclear spin. The resulting Overhauser field approaches 80 mT, in agreement with a simple rate-equation model. A self-limiting pulse sequence is developed that allows the steady-state nuclear polarization to be set using a gate voltage.     

Long-lived quantum memory with nuclear atomic spins

We propose to store nonclassical states of light into the macroscopic collective nuclear spin (10(18) atoms) of a 3He vapor, using metastability exchange collisions. These collisions, commonly used to transfer orientation from the metastable state 2 3S1 to the ground state of 3He, can also transfer quantum correlations. This gives a possible experimental scheme to map a squeezed vacuum field state onto a nuclear spin state with very long storage times (hours).     

Indirect interaction of nuclear spins in chiral magnets

The effective Hamiltonian of the Suhl-Nakamura interaction of nuclear spins in a helimagnet has been constructed for the case where an external magnetic field is applied perpendicular to the axis of the helicoid. The contribution from the intraboundary and intradomain spin excitations to the parameter and effective radius of this interaction has been calculated. The second moment and local broadening of the NMR absorption line, which are determined by the indirect interaction of the nuclear spins, have also been calculated.     

Stabilization of alternating TR steady-state free precession sequences

Alternating TR steady-state free precession (ATR SSFP) has been proposed as a method to achieve a favorable frequency response compared to that of conventional balanced SSFP. ATR SSFP, much like conventional SSFP, exhibits oscillatory transient signal behavior that can degrade image quality. Thus an efficient preparation scheme is desired in order to actively reduce this initial signal fluctuation. Using an approach similar to that of Le Roux [Simplified model and stabilization of SSFP sequences, J. Magn. Resonan. 163 (1) (2003) 23–37], we construct a mathematical model for ATR SSFP sequences and show a Fourier relation between the separated odd and even terms of the RF flip angle increment sequence during an initial preparation, and the resulting oscillatory residues. A weighted Kaiser–Bessel windowed ramp can be used to design preparation schemes for arbitrary TR₁, TR₂, and RF phase cycling combinations. Optimized Kaiser–Bessel windowed ramp preparations for wideband SSFP and fat-suppressed ATR SSFP imaging are tested in phantoms. The results show substantially reduced transient signal oscillation with this new initial preparation method.     

Influence of magnetic impurities on the heat capacity of nuclear spins

It is found that over a wide range of temperatures and magnetic fields even a small concentration of magnetic impurities in a sample leads to a T ⁻¹ temperature dependence of the nuclear heat capacity. This effect is due to nuclear spin polarization by the magnetic impurities. The parameter that controls the theory turns out not to be the impurity concentration n _imp but instead the quantity n _imp μ _e /μ _n , where μ _e and μ _n are the magnetic moments of an electron and a nucleus, respectively. The ratio of μ _e and μ _n is of order of 10³. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 66, No. 5, 341–345 (10 September 1997) Published in English in the original Russian journal. Edited by Steve Torstveit.