¹³C Hyperpolarization with Nitrogen-Vacancy Centers in Micro- and Nanodiamonds for Sensitive Magnetic Resonance Applications

Nuclear hyperpolarization is a known method to enhance the signal in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) by orders of magnitude. The present work addresses the ¹³C hyperpolarization in diamond micro- and nanoparticles, using the optically-pumped nitrogen-vacancy center (NV) to polarize ¹³C spins at room temperature. Consequences of the small particle size are mitigated by using a combination of surface treatment improving the ¹³C relaxation (T₁) time, as well as that of NV, and applying a technique for NV illumination based on a microphotonic structure. Monitoring the light-induced redistribution of the NV spin state populations with electron paramagnetic resonance, a strong polarization enhancement for the NV spin state is observed in a narrow spectral region corresponding to about 4% of these defect centers. By combining adjustments to the `PulsePol' sequence and slow sample rotation, the NV-¹³C polarization transfer rate is improved further. The hyperpolarized ¹³C NMR signal is observed in particles of 2 μm and 100 nm median sizes, with enhancements over the thermal signal (at 0.29 T magnetic field), of 1500 and 940, respectively. The present demonstration of room-temperature hyperpolarization anticipates the development of agents based on nanoparticles for sensitive magnetic resonance applications.