Comparative study of helical-cut notch-coil magnets for fast-field-cycling nuclear magnetic resonance

摘要

In this manuscript we describe an alpha-helical-cut notch-coil magnet system designed for fast switching of the magnetic field. An attempt was made to determine the extent to which such a magnet configuration can be efficiently used for fast-field-cycling (FFC) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) instruments. In addition to the typical technical requirements (high field-to-power ratio, adequate electric performance for fast-switching of the magnetic field and NMR-compatible magnetic field homogeneity), a tunable homogeneity within the sample volume and more uniform heat dissipation along the magnet body are included. A helical-cut notch-coil machined in metallic cylinders with external movable pieces was found to fit these requirements very well. A key factor for the optimization of the magnet parameters is the use of a novel calculation procedure based on a more realistic model that consider a magnet geometry with broken azimuthal symmetry. The aim of this paper is to theoretically compare the proposed geometry with other existing designs. No particular prototype is presented here. A clear understanding of the notch-coil performance was found to be an essential step for its further consideration as a potential autoadaptive (electronically controlled) magnet system for FFC applications.