'Nuclear Spin Engineering for Advanced Chemo-...'

Dr. Danila Barskiy (UC Berkeley, Helmholtz-Institut Mainz) 

'Nuclear Spin Engineering for Advanced Chemo- and Biosensing: Optical Magnetometers, Magnetization Transfer Catalysis, and Magnetic Resonance Without Magnets' 

Abstract: New ways of detecting signals from nuclear spins are required for miniaturization of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) devices. One of such ways is detection with optically-pumped magnetometers at ultra-low magnetic fields. In my talk, I will outline ideas for the development of new portable miniaturized NMR sensors in which nuclear signals are detected at zero- and ultra-low-field (ZULF) conditions by using optically-pumped magnetometers (OPMs). Coupled with hyperpolarization strategies such as magnetization transfer catalysis, OPM technology will allow affordable and inexpensive NMR sensors for visualizing chemical transformations in microreactors, bioreactors with complicated geometry, and organs-on-a-chip. This new field of 'nuclear spin engineering' provides opportunities for collaboration across the boundary of disciplines for engineers, chemists, biologists, and medical doctors and endows a fruitful field for the research of the 21st century.