Collaborative Research: Nuclear Spin Optical Rotation of Hyperpolarized Liquids and Solids

With support from the Chemical Measurement and Imaging Program in the Division of Chemistry, Professor Christian Hilty (Texas A&M) and Dr. Igor Savukov (New Mexico Consortium) and their groups are combining two important chemical analysis tools - optical and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy - to study the configuration of electrons in matter.

Both optical and NMR spectroscopy are frequently used to determine molecular structures in chemistry, but they operate in independent domains. Optical spectroscopy probes electron energy states, whereas NMR probes atomic nuclei. By combining both spectroscopies, the team can garner fundamental information on materials and molecules important for new technologies such as devices for harvesting energy from light, or information storage and readout for quantum computing.

Students (including undergraduates) engaged in this project receive outstanding, interdisciplinary training, preparing them for careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). Professor Hilty also incorporates elements of NMR into his courses.

Despite the potential for important advances in understanding electronic structure, nuclear spin optical rotation (NSOR) spectroscopy up to now has not been fully exploited. This project will use nuclear spin probes to characterize the dependence of the NSOR effect on molecular structure. This research team will undertake the measurement of NSOR in the solid state for the first time, opening up new possibilities for the use of this technique.

The use of hyperpolarization is expected to lead to an increase in the NSOR signal by several orders of magnitude. The specific aims are: (1) to demonstrate the measurement of structure-dependent NSOR signals in a series of compounds containing hyperpolarized nuclear spin probes; (2) to construct an apparatus and demonstrate the detection of NSOR signals from solid state samples, utilizing the full potential of sensitivity enhancement by DNP (dynamic nuclear polarization); and (3) to develop computational methods for predicting liquid and solid state NSOR.

In combination, these aims will lead to a method enabling the fundamental characterization of electron configurations of molecules in liquids and solids.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.