Vol 48, No 7 (2017)

This work presents an overview of investigations of the nuclear spin dynamics in nanostructures with negatively charged InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots characterized by strong quadrupole splitting of nuclear spin sublevels. The main method of the investigations is the experimental measurements and the theoretical analysis of the photoluminescence polarization as a function of the transverse magnetic field (effect Hanle). The dependence of the Hanle curve profile on the temporal protocol of optical excitation is examined. Experimental data are analyzed using an original approach based on separate consideration of behavior of the longitudinal and transverse components of the nuclear polarization. The rise and decay times of each component of the nuclear polarization and their dependence on transverse magnetic field strength are determined. To study the role of the Knight field in the dynamic of nuclear polarization, a weak additional magnetic field parallel to the optical axis is used. We have found that, only taking into account the nuclear spin fluctuations, we can accurately describe the measured Hanle curves and evaluate the parameters of the electron–nuclear spin system in the studied quantum dots. A new effect of the resonant optical pumping of nuclear spin polarization in an ensemble of the singly charged (In,Ga)As/GaAs quantum dots subjected to a transverse magnetic field is discussed. Nuclear spin resonances for all isotopes in the quantum dots are detected in that way. In particular, transitions between the states split off from the ±1/2 doublets by the nuclear quadrupole interaction are identified.

The high data point density measurements of ¹H→¹¹B cross-polarization (CP) kinetics upon magic-angle spinning (MAS) of [bmim][BF₄] confined in mesoporous SBA-15 and MCM-41 were carried out. The complex shaped ¹¹B CP MAS signals were observed in both silica and decomposed into two Lorentz components. This points towards the possibility of bimodal distribution of [bmim][BF₄] in the studied confinements. The convergence of classical and non-classical spin coupling models was deduced processing CP kinetic curves. A good fit of the theoretical curves to the experimental data was achieved using both models without any non-random deviations between theory and experiment to appear. The convergence of spin coupling models was discussed in terms of relatively high mobility of BF₄⁻ anion respect to the cation and the dynamics of anions in pores. These factors delete the borders between spin clusters. The spin diffusion along the pore surfaces in MCM-41 is more than twice faster than in SBA-15.

We study the role of hydrodynamic interactions for the relaxation of segments’ orientations in dendrimers. The dynamics is considered in the Zimm framework. It is shown that inclusion of correlations between segments’ orientations plays a major role for the segments’ mobility, which reveals itself in the nuclear magnetic resonance relaxation functions. The enhancement of the reorientation dynamics of segments due to the hydrodynamic interactions is more significant for the inner segments. This effect is clearly pronounced in the reduced spectral density \(\omega J(\omega )\), maximum of which shifts to higher frequencies when the hydrodynamic interactions are taken into account.

We describe and apply a scheme to obtain nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) signals from multiple regions in space with a single pulse sequence in systems with strong, usually unavoidable, gradient magnetic fields. This is accomplished with multiple frequency irradiation and reception. Applications described include dual-slice NMR of a fluid to enhance S/N, T₂ measurements of two different samples, and efficient T₁ measurement sequence by interleaving shorter delays within a longer delay for different slices.

Geological samples of calcium carbonates (CaCO₃) were investigated by ³He NMR, nitrogen porosimetry, X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy methods. The integral porosity of the samples was obtained by ³He nuclear magnetic resonance method and compared with nitrogen adsorption isotherms data. The advantages of ³He porometry method are discussed.

The effect of concomitant magnetic fields emerging in conjunction with encoding gradients, which is important in the process of the magnetic resonance imaging in low fields, has been considered. The manifestations of concomitant magnetic fields in a concrete gradient system, namely in the system of two coaxial gradient coils, have been thoroughly analyzed. It has been suggested to improve the gradient system via optimization of the interspace between coils on the basis of the standard criterion of the minimum of root-mean-square deviation of the encoding field dependence from a linear one. It has been shown that the optimal interspace is not the Maxwell condition.