Broadband stripline Lenz lens achieves 11 × NMR signal enhancement

Abstract

Abstract A Lenz lens is an electrically passive conductive element that, when placed in a time-varying magnetic field, acts as a magnetic flux concentrator or a magnetic lens. In the realm of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), Lenz lenses have been exploited as electrically passive metallic radiofrequency interposers placed between a sample and a tuned or untuned NMR detector in order to focus the $${B}_1$$ B 1 -field of the detector onto a smaller sample space. Here we explore a novel embodiment of the Lenz lens, which acts as a non-resonant stripline interposer, i.e., the $${B}_1$$ B 1 -field acts along the longitudinal volume of a sample container, such as a capillary or other microfluidic channel that is coincident with the axis of the stripline. The almost vanishing self-resonance of the stripline Lenz lens, at frequencies relevant for NMR, leads to a desirable $${B}_1$$ B 1 -field amplitude that is nearly perfectly uniform across the sample and hence lacking a characteristic sinusoidal modal shape. The action of Lenz’ law ensures that no stray $${B}_1$$ B 1 -field is found outside of the stripline’s active volume. Because the stripline Lenz lens does not rely on its own geometry to achieve resonance, its frequency response is thus widely broadband for field enhancements up to a factor of 11, with only the external driving resonator properties governing the overall resonant behaviour. We explore the use of the stripline Lenz lens with a sub-nanolitre sample volume, readily detecting 4 isotopes with resonances ranging from 125.76 to 500 MHz. The concept holds potential for the NMR study of thin films, small biological samples, as well as the in situ study of battery materials.