Sustainable and cost-effective MAS DNP-NMR at 30 K with cryogenic sample exchange.

We report here instrumental developments to achieve sustainable, cost-effective cryogenic Helium sample spinning in order to conduct dynamic nuclear polarisation (DNP) and solid-state NMR (ssNMR) at ultra-low temperatures (<30 K). More specifically, we describe an efficient closed-loop helium system composed of a powerful heat exchanger (95% efficient), a single cryocooler, and a single helium compressor to power the sample spinning and cooling. The system is integrated with a newly designed triple-channel NMR probe that minimizes thermal losses without compromising the radio frequency (RF) performance and spinning stability (±0.05%). The probe is equipped with an innovative cryogenic sample exchange system that allows swapping samples in minutes without introducing impurities in the closeloop system. We report that significant gain in sensitivity can be obtained at 30-40 K on large micro-crystalline molecules with unfavorable relaxation timescales, making them difficult or impossible to polarize at 100 K. We also report rotor-synchronized 2D experiments to demonstrate the stability of the system.

Ultra-low temperature MAS-DNP.

Since the infancy of NMR spectroscopy, sensitivity and resolution have been the limiting factors of the technique. Regular essential developments on this front have led to the widely applicable, versatile, and powerful spectroscopy that we know today. However, the Holy Grail of ultimate sensitivity and resolution is not yet reached, and technical improvements are still ongoing. Hence, high-field dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) making use of high-frequency, high-power microwave irradiation of electron spins has become very promising in combination with magic angle sample spinning (MAS) solid-state NMR experiments. This is because it leads to a transfer of the much larger polarization of these electron spins under suitable irradiation to surrounding nuclei, greatly increasing NMR sensitivity. Currently, this boom in MAS-DNP is mainly performed at minimum sample temperatures of about 100K, using cold nitrogen gas to pneumatically spin and cool the sample. This Perspective deals with the desire to improve further the sensitivity and resolution by providing "ultra"-low temperatures for MAS-DNP, using cryogenic helium gas. Different designs on how this technological challenge has been overcome are described. It is shown that stable and fast spinning can be attained for sample temperatures down to 30K using a large cryostat developed in our laboratory. Using this cryostat to cool a closed-loop of helium gas brings the additional advantage of sample spinning frequencies that can greatly surpass those achievable with nitrogen gas, due to the differing fluidic properties of these two gases. It is shown that using ultra-low temperatures for MAS-DNP results in substantial experimental sensitivity enhancements and according time-savings. Access to this temperature range is demonstrated to be both viable and highly pertinent.