Magnetic Resonance of Hyperpolarized Noble Gases – Jason C. Lea Woods

Date: Mon. March 1st, 2004, 12:30 pm-1:30 pm
Location: Rockefeller 221

Laser polarization of 3He and 129Xe generates nuclear spin polarizations 100,000 times greater than Boltzmann equilibrium at 2 Tesla and 300 K. The advent of these hyperpolarized gases has led to a wealth of research and applications in atomic and materials physics, chemistry, and medicine. After a brief introduction to magnetic resonance and hyperpolarization, the physics of optical pumping and spin exchange in the production of hyperpolarized gases will be introduced and discussed. Several novel applications, including nuclear polarization transfer and diffusion imaging in normal and diseased human lungs, will be detailed. New research on the discovery of ferromagnetism in glass spin-exchange cells will also be treated, with emphasis on these cells as the worlds most sensitive detector of remnant magnetism.