Solenoidal microcoil design-Part II: Optimizing winding parameters for maximum signal-to-noise performance

In high‐field proton NMR, the signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) achieved with a close‐fitting solenoidal microcoil is adversely affected by radio frequency (RF) losses in the coil, its leads, the capacitor used to tune it, and finally, the sample. In Part II, a rigorous description of these various losses is presented, and their severity is related to the details of coil design. Results not only provide a rational basis for defining a microcoil's optimal wire diameter and the number of turns, but also for evaluating how the SNR varies with coil size and NMR frequency in high‐field proton NMR studies involving either conducting or non‐conducting samples. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Concepts Magn Reson 13: 190–210, 2001