Applications of adiabatic half passage to NQR

The application of nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) to the detection of materials can be hampered by the low sensitivity of the technique. The use of surface coils for remote detection only exacerbates this problem. In this paper we demonstrate the advantages of adiabatic half passage (AHP) for NQR detection ofI=1 spins in powder samples. Under optimal conditions, AHP provides a 15% sensitivity enhancement over traditional optimized, pulsed excitation. AHP excitation is independent of ω1 over more than an order of magnitude variation in radio-frequency (rf) field strength, and can provide up to a factor of two or more sensitivity enhancement over traditional pulsed excitation in inhomogeneous rf magnetic fields. In pulsed spin-locking-type experiments, AHP as a prepulse can provide near constant signal amplitude over a factor of two variation in rf magnetic field strength.