| Through spin exchange optical pumping, it is possible to achieve upwards of 30% nuclear spin polarization in 129Xe with an NMR signal enhancement of some 5 orders of magnitude over typical thermal signals. Hyperpolarized 129Xe has thus found application in several leading-edge technologies. At 1 T and 4.2 K, the characteristic relaxation time of enriched polycrystalline 129Xe (86% 129Xe, 0.1% 131Xe) is well over 200 hrs, sufficient for long-term storage and transport.; Longitudinal nuclear spin relaxation of 129Xe at more convenient fields from 1 to 200 G is studied in detail. Significant structure in relaxation times vs. magnetic field is seen; the most prominent new finding being a sharp local long-time T 1 maximum of 1000 mins at ≈3 G. Such structure has not been observed in previous measurements of natural Xe. Below temperatures of 10 K, relaxation can be attributed to cross relaxation with 131Xe, mediated by spin diffusion. Measurements of 129Xe relaxation as a function of magnetic field, temperature and Xe isotopic content are reported and compared with expected theoretical behaviors.; It is seen that the characteristic nuclear spin relaxation of enriched 129Xe at 4.2 K is nonexponential at these low fields. For fields between 10 G and 200 G, these nonexponential relaxation curves can be fit well with a specific spin diffusion model. Below 10 G no such fit is possible and thus quantum mechanical details of the coupling between 129Xe, 131Xe and the bulk lattice are considered. These findings support the hypothesis that cross relaxation with 131Xe is indeed a dominant actor in the nuclear spin relaxation of polycrystalline 129 Xe at such low fields and low temperatures. |
