Colloquium: Sean Barrett, February 6, 2014

Date: February 6
Speaker: Sean Barrett (Yale)
Title: Recent Progress in Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Hard and Soft Solids
Abstract: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of solids is rarely attempted because the broader MR linewidths, compared to that of 1H in water, limit both the spatial resolution and the signal-to-noise ratio. Basic research, stimulated by the quest to build a quantum computer, gave rise to a unique MR pulse sequence that offers a solution to this long-standing problem. The `quadratic echo' significantly narrows the broad MR spectrum of solids. Applying field gradients in synch with this line-narrowing sequence opens a fresh approach to the MRI of hard and soft solids with high spatial resolution. Here we show that this technique can be used for three-dimensional MRI of 31P in ex vivo bone and soft tissue samples. Future applications (for example, to geology, and to the physics of granular matter) will be discussed.