Small crystals and small coils in variable-temperature single-crystal NMR.

ABSTRACT

Time savings by a factor of between 20 and 30 in the acquisition of multinuclear single-crystal (SC) NMR spectra have been obtained for submillimeter-size (0.01 to 0.03 mm(3)) single crystals when compared to recent results for (31)P and (87)Rb SC NMR. This gain in sensitivity is achieved by optimizing the filling factor using the smallest possible rf coil (2.0 mm inner diameter) for the specific SC probe design. Furthermore, this small coil is particularly useful for variable-temperature SC NMR studies. A probe design for such studies is presented and demonstrated experimentally.