A

PICKUP LOOP WHICH IS SENSITIVE ONLY TO RF MAGNETIC FIELD

The popularization of NMR of large samples in a large magnet bore space has
increased the need for a
convenient measurement of the magnitude and direction of
the rf magnetic field generatedby a
coil. This is true, for example, in constructing
birdcage coils to see if the correct oscillation mode is being generated.
The measurement of the rf magnetic field is best performed by the useof a
loop of wire in which a
current proportional to the rate of change of the magnetic
field is induced. For a
sinusoidally varying magnetic field, the induced current is
proportional to themagnetic field intensity (with a phase shift).
The major problem with measuring the rf magnetic field with a loop of wire is
the sensitivity of the loop to the local rf electric field. In particular, theelectric
field which is generated by the current in the coil must be accounted for.
A crude
way to do this is to make two measurements, one with the loop and another wi
th the loop shorted, andsubtract the results.
We have been using a variation of the loop which automatically cancels the
electric field signal(l) and report its construction here because it seems not to
be well known in the NMR community.
Design
The figure shows a diagram of the loop and its accompanying circuit. We
used RG-174/U coaxial cable with a
#26 stranded center conductor for the loop and
stem. The plastic jacket is strippedoff so that we can minimize the contributio
n to the total probe area that the stem makes.
The loop is made by wrapping the cable around a
7/8 in. outside diameter slice of a plexiglass tube as a form. A
gap is made in the shield to let the inner
conductor "see" the rf field. It isimportant to have the stem long enough
to be able to keep the chassis box out of the field generated by the coil that's
being measured in order that the loop assembly not detune the coil, ideally.the
stem contributes no area to the total loop area. We soldered most of the stern a
nd
then used shrink tubing to minimize the area along the stem length. We could
have

also twisted the two wiresin the stem to cancel the net flux passing between th
em.
The loop is sensitive to both electric and magnetic fields, but we are interested
only in the magnetic field response. A
balun is used to remove the signal caused by
the changing electric field.Following Roleson(l), we used #24 enameled wire
bifilar wound seven times around a small ferrite core.
Use
The shielded loop antenna is simple to use. Drive the coil to be tested with a
cw or pulse signal at the frequency of interest. Attach the shielded loop antenn
a to a
high impedance input of anoscilloscope and make measurements of the relativ
e
field strength and direction by comparing the magnitudes of the rf that is bein
g
detected by the probe. With our particular birdcage coil, wesee 20 volts peakto- peak into the scope for an effective B
field of 0.175 gauss which gives rise to a
proton /2 pulse of about 350 s. With this high sensitivity, it is easy to test a
coil which isexcited by a
weak cw source. This is convenient for us because the high
power transmitter of the NMR apparatus is often not available when the coil is
being developed. A
loop to be used withhigh power pulses can be smaller and thus
have better spatial resolution.
One test of how well this loop works for measuring the rf magnetic field is to
rotate it in the rf coil to be tested. A maximum in the magnitude of the rf
detected corresponds to an orientation withthe plane of the probe cutting the
most field lines, whereas a
minimum corresponds to an orientation with the loop cutting
no field lines. If the loop-coil system is working well, this minimumwill be a
zero, but if the electric field is not cancelled fully, there will be a
residual signal at minimum.
1. Scott Roleson, "Evaluate EMI Reduction Schemes With Shielded-Loop Ant
ennas, EDN, 203-207; May 17, 1984.

Sincerely,

Joel C. Watkins and Eiichi Fukushima