Digital Q-Meter for continuous-wave NMR

Abstract

A method to perform continuous-wave NMR measurements of nuclear magnetization at high magnetic fields, above 2.5 T, without analog down-mixing is described. An FPGA controls a digital clock pulse which is used to stimulate a resonant circuit and provide a reference signal. An algorithm determines the real portion of a resonant circuit signal near the Larmor frequency of the species of interest using only two measurements of the waveform per cycle. The FPGA automatically alters a variable capacitance to tune the resonant circuit to the Larmor frequency.