Spin-injection optical pumping of molten cesium salt and its NMR diagnosis

Abstract

Nuclear spin polarization of cesium ions in the salt was enhanced during optical pumping of cesium vapor at high magnetic field. Significant motional narrowing and frequency shift of NMR signals were observed by intense laser heating of the salt. When the hyperpolarized salt was cooled by blocking the heating laser, the signal width and frequency changed during cooling and presented the phase transition from liquid to solid. Hence, we find that the signal enhancement is mostly due to the molten salt and nuclear spin polarization is injected into the salt efficiently in the liquid phase. We also show that optical pumping similarly induces line narrowing in the solid phase. The use of powdered salt provided an increase in effective surface area and signal amplitude without glass wool in the glass cells.