NMR is central to both the academic and industrial biomedical communities. Further progress in NMR is challenged by ultimate limitations in the low-temperature superconductor (LTS) wires used in NMR/MRI magnets since the 1970s, that prevent them from operating beyond 24T in a persistent, non-driven mode. This proposal builds on a recent NHMFL-based development that has delivered the first coil operating in a stable superconducting state at fields e34 T, and proposes to use this breakthrough for building a fully- superconducting solution NMR system operating above 1 GHz. To achieve this, and to demonstrate the feasibility of exploiting these ideas to carry biomolecular solution-state NMR to this and at higher (H30T) magnetic fields, we aim to: (i) develop a high homogeneity coil of round multifilamentary Bi-2212 wire, a new kind of high-temperature superconductor (HTS) developed by Larbalestier et al in 2012 and that unlike previously proposed HTSs can carry a high current density beyond 30 T; (ii) operate this coil within an existing Oxford Instrument LTS outsert magnet running in persistent mode, to deliver a room-temperature magnetic field sweet spot in excess of 23.5 T over a 10 mm DSV with homogeneities and relevant field instabilities of H1- 2 ppm; (iii) exploit the expertise that over the last decade NHMFL has amassed in field stabilization and probe construction, to demonstrate the feasibility of using such a setup at room temperature with H30 ppb stabilities and homogeneities over 150 ?L samples; (iv) place this system to the disposition of the NMR community at large as part of NHMFL's facility role, in order to exploit it for paramagnetic, membrane-protein, in cell and protein bioNMR research, as well as to get critical feedback on ways to further pursue this breakthrough.
Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy (NMR) and imaging (MRI) are essential tools for biomedical research, clinical diagnosis, and drug development. The strength of the magnetic field is the single most important factor determining the quality of NMR/MRI data. The present project exploits an improved superconductive wire technology developed by the investigators to design a stronger magnet and utilize it for magnetic resonance. Successful implementation could have lasting implications in the use of NMR and MRI by academic researchers, by the biomedical and pharmaceutical industries, by radiology-based health-care communities, and by society at large.
