Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Principles and Applications

Ahmad Abu Elhassan Salih King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals Electrical Engineering DEPT EE530: Radiation/Prop/Electro Waves

Abstract. This paper illustrates the principle of NMR and how to get into this mode with an applied homogeneous magnetic field and RF pulses. Then, some of the NMR applications will be discussed. Keywords. NMR, MRI. I. Introduction Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), is a very powerful and precise instrumental technique which is the only method that allows the determination of three dimensional structures of protein molecules so that, it's a very helpful method for the study of kinetic reactions and protein's properties at the atomic level. NMR was described and measured in molecular beams by Rabi in 1938 and then in 1944, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics. In 1946, Felix Bloch and Edward Mils expanded the technique for use on liquids and solids, for which they earned the Nobel Prize in Physics [5]. The NMR development as a technique in chemistry and biochemistry is paralleled with the electromagnetic development and advanced electronics and their role into civilian usage. II. NMR Principle Any atomic nuclei consists of Protons which is positively charged particles and free charged particles called neutrons, each of these particles spins around itself in a random direction. If we have spinning nucleus, it means that we have an odd number of protons and also for neutrons. If the nucleus has an even number of protons and neutrons, then there is a possibility that the same spinning particles will cancel each other. The most commonly studied spinning nuclides are 1H, 13C, 17O, 19F and 31P [1]. The spin states are determined as follows: If the neutron's number plus the proton's number is odd, then the nuclei has a half integer spin (i.e. 1/2, 3/2). If the neutron's number and the proton's number are both odd, then the nucleus has an integer spin (i.e. 1, 2, 3). In the Quantum mechanics there is a known role says that a nuclei of spin I will have 2I + 1 possible orientations [1]. For 1H, I = 1/2 which means that has 2 possible orientations (1/2 and -1/2). If we have a number of spinning nuclides and a magnetic field (B) is applied, then most of the nuclides will align in the magnetic field direction and small number of nuclides will align in the opposite direction. The nuclides against the magnetic field will absorb energy to keep their alignment and the amount of the energy is linearly proportional to the applied homogeneous magnetic field as shown in Fig (1) where ms is the spin orientation. Fig (2) For these nuclides to resonate it will need energy in different direction of the applied magnetic field, this energy will be provided by Radio Frequency (RF) pulses which means a signal with frequency sweep is turned on and then off repeatedly so that when the pulse is on the nuclides will absorb energy and spin at a different direction due the different strength of the RF pulses and the applied magnetic field and when the pulse is off it will radiate energy and return to the applied field energy, this operation happens very rapidly so that we called this phenomena the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) [2]. The RF pulse frequency at which the nuclei will resonate called resonance frequency which is different form an element to another and also it depends on the pulse time. Table (1) [1] illustrates some well studied elements with their spin states and their resonance frequency due to same RF pulses time. Nucleus 1 H 13 C 19 F 31 P 11 B I 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 3/2 Resonance Frequency(MHz) 200 50.288 188.154 80.961 64.167 Table (1)

Fig (1) If all the nuclides in the applied magnetic field area are being added as vectors, then the resulting vector will be in the applied magnetic field direction as shown in Fig (2).

III. NMR Instrumentation The changes in energy magnitude involved in NMR spectroscopy are very small. This means that, sensitivity can be a big limitation especially with low concentrations, so that we need a reliable method to extract the different frequencies to be able to discover the elements. There are different types of NMR instruments but now Fourier transform (FT) instruments dominate the market. The pulse response contains information on all resonance frequencies at the same time in the time domain [4]. Then convert the signal to NMR spectrum by Fourier transform. The FT experiment can be repeated many times and the results summed by a computer to obtain the optimum results. IV. Experimental Considerations To obtain accurate results from NMR we have to consider some practical issues The experimental NMR sample should not contain any particles that may affect the applied magnetic field homogeneity. Add a number of small coils that surround the sample area to provide slight adjustments to the applied magnetic field to increase its homogeneity. Magnetic field strength Changes are detected by measuring the resonance of Lithium (7Li), so that it is used in adjusting the field homogeneity [4]. V. Applications NMR Spectroscopy has a lot of applications in many aspects of science. Medicine The most famous application of NMR in the medicine field is Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) which is a medical imaging technique used to visualize internal body structures in a detailed image more than X-rays [3]. Another imaging technique called Magnetic Resonance Microscopy (MRM) which is used for a microscopic level down to the scale of 5-10 m. NMR RF pulses and magnetic field can penetrate many types of materials which can be very useful in testing expensive biological samples, such as nucleic acids without destruction of the sample for a long time. Chemistry NMR spectroscopy has contributed enormously to chemical knowledge. A chemist can recognize the compound identity by comparing the observed nuclear precession frequencies to the known frequencies, so that NMR is required by scientific journals for confirmation of new discovered compounds. Some NMR applications were invented such as carbon13 (13C NMR) which allows the determination of carbon atoms in a molecule except 12C which has no spinning nuclei [4]. Also Proton NMR (1H NMR) is NMR application to discover natural 1H which is used, practically all of the hydrogen. Petroleum Industry Analysis of boreholes which drilled into rocks is used to measure the porosity of the rocks, estimate permeability from pore size distribution and identify pore fluids as (water, oil and gas) [2]. These instruments are low field NMR spectrometers (very low magnetic field).

NMR is used to measure magnetic field using different techniques such as proton precession magnetometers (PPM) which measure the resonance frequency of protons (hydrogen nuclei) in the magnetic field to be measured [3]. Because the precession frequency depends on atomic constants and the applied magnetic field strength, this type of magnetometer accuracy can reach 1 ppm. VI. Future Work

An interesting area where research has shown NMR to be a possible help is supercomputers. Using the power of magnetic imaging for an entirely new purpose: to do calculations. By using the machine, scientists are able to use an atom like a tiny switch such as those in a computer chip, able to be either a 1 or a 0 at any time. In the future, it might be possible for computers consisting of thousands of atoms to exist, able to do tasks impossible for even today's most powerful conventional supercomputer. REFERENCES [1] Bruce Gilbert, and Richard Norman, "An Introduction to NMR Spectroscopy", Educational Techniques Subject Group, 1977 [2] George R. Coates, Lizhi Xiao, and Manfred G. Prammer, "NMR logging principles and applications," Halliburton Energy Services, 1999 [3] Nuclear magnetic resonance, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_magnetic_resonan ce#Applications [4] Principles of nmr.com/nmr1.htm NMR, http://www.process-

[5] Historical development of NMR, http://www.google.com.sa/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s &source=web&cd=18&cad=rja&ved=0CGgQFjAHOA o&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.unistuttgart.de%2Fgkmr%2Flectures%2Fpdf_files%2Flect ures_G.Majer_11.2004%2FPart_1.pdf&ei=0U5PUpu0 Ne2W0QWJnoHgCQ&usg=AFQjCNFShFfAue0pIXFL MXajhXTe4XZgNg&sig2=A3eQrYZThIMfl1YVN1A0 kg