High-field NMR of adsorbed xenon polarized by laser pumping

Optical pumping has been used to enhance the pulsed NMR signal of Xe129, allowing the detecting of low-pressure xenon gas and of xenon adsorbed on powdered solids. We observe an increase in sensitivity of more than 2 orders of magnitude over conventional NMR, the current limitation being the laser power. Adsorbed xenon is observed at 298 K on graphitized carbon (about 10 m2g and on powdered benzanthracene (0.5 m2g) below 170 K. The increased sensitivity of this technique allows the study of a large class of amorphous materials with surface areas below 10 m2/g including semiconductors, polymers, metal oxides, and catalysts.