Stop-Flow SEOP Polarizer for 129Xe

T. Pałasza, L. Mikowskaa, B. Głowacza, Z. Olejniczakb, M. Suchanekc, T. Dohnalika aMarian Smoluchowski Institute of Physics, Jagiellonian University, Łojasiewicza 11, PL-30348 Kraków, Poland bInstitute of Nuclear Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Radzikowskiego 152, PL-31342 Kraków, Poland cDepartment of Physics, University of Agriculture, Mickiewicza 21, PL-31120 Kraków, Poland

Received: Received: October 1, 2019; in final form October 23, 2019

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In the view of growing application of hyperpolarized xenon in various fields of science and medicine, the availability of relatively low cost, reliable polarizers is of the utmost importance. The article describes the design and construction of the spin exchange optical pumping (SEOP) polarizer for 129Xe, operating in the stop-flow mode. Using 9 W of laser power at the input of 1 litre optical pumping cell, a single batch of the gas mixture is polarized in about 15 minutes. The xenon nuclear polarization is calibrated against the thermally polarized water and xenon phantoms. It reaches about 40 % in the gas mixture containing 3 % of isotopically enriched xenon. The hyperpolarized xenon is accumulated in the detachable liquid nitrogen dewar containing 0.6 T Halbach magnet with the cold trap inside. All components that are important for the effective operation of the system are described in detail, and possible improvements are pointed out.

DOI:10.12693/APhysPolA.136.1008 topics: Magnetic resonance imaging, nuclear hyperpolarization, spin exchange optical pumping, xenon-129