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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Aug 4th, 2014.
D. Ha, J. Paulsen, N. Sun, Y.-Q. Song, D. Ham.
School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138; &
Schlumberger-Doll Research Center, Cambridge, MA 02139; and
Electrical and Computer Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712.
ABSTRACT
State-of-the-art NMR spectrometers using superconducting magnets have enabled, with their ultrafine spectral resolution, the determination of the structure of large molecules such as proteins, which is one of the most profound applications of modern NMR spectroscopy. Many chemical and biotechnological applications, however, involve only small-to-medium size molecules, for which the ultrafine resolution of the bulky, expensive, and high-maintenance NMR spectrometers is not required. For these applications, there is a critical need for portable, affordable, and low-maintenance NMR spectrometers to enable in-field, on-demand, or online applications (e.g., quality control, chemical reaction monitoring) and co-use of NMR with other analytical methods (e.g., chromatography, electrophoresis). As a critical step toward NMR spectrometer miniaturization, small permanent magnets with high field homogeneity have been developed. In contrast, NMR spectrometer electronics capable of modern multidimensional spectroscopy have thus far remained bulky. Complementing the magnet miniaturization, here we integrate the NMR spectrometer electronics into 4-mm2 silicon chips. Furthermore, we perform various multidimensional NMR spectroscopies by operating these spectrometer electronics chips together with a compact permanent magnet. This combination of the spectrometer-electronics-on-a-chip with a permanent magnet represents a useful step toward miniaturization of the overall NMR spectrometer into a portable platform.
Additional Information:
This innovation opens the door for portable applications. With its spectrometer electronics chips with their cost/size economy it may improve NMR technologies such as multi-channel spectroscopy, phased-array imaging, microfluidic microscopy, and parallel, high-throughput spectroscopy.
