Super-Q Detection of Transient Magnetic Resonance Signals
B. H. Suits, A. N. Garroway, and J. B. Miller
Abstract
The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) improvements with increasing
detection coil quality factor, Q, are examined for the detection
of known magnetic resonance signals in noise. It is found
that in the absence of amplifier noise, SNR continues to
increase with increasing Q even in the "super-Q" limit, when
the bandwidth of the tuned detection circuit is smaller than
that of the signal to be detected. In the super-Q limit,
the maximum obtainable SNR is thus limited by noise from
the amplifiers in the system. This contrasts with typical
NMR measurements where the ultimate SNR is limited by
thermal noise from the detection circuit. Explicit expressions
are derived and are compared to experiments performed
using electronically simulated spin echo signals.
Journal of Magnetic Resonance 132, 54-64 (1998).
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