A fully integrated IQ-receiver for NMR microscopy

J Magn Reson. 2011 Mar;209(1):1-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jmr.2010.12.005. Epub 2010 Dec 19.

Abstract

We present a fully integrated CMOS receiver for micro-magnetic resonance imaging together with a custom-made micro-gradient system. The receiver is designed for an operating frequency of 300 MHz. The chip consists of an on-chip detection coil and tuning capacitor as well as a low-noise amplifier and a quadrature downconversion mixer with corresponding low-frequency amplification stages. The design is realized in a 0.13 μm CMOS technology, it occupies a chip area of 950 × 800 μm² and it draws 50 mA from a supply voltage of 1.8 V. The achieved time-domain spin sensitivity is 5×10(14)spins/Hz. Images of phantoms obtained in our custom-made gradient system with 8 μm isotropic resolution are reported.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amplifiers, Electronic*
  • Equipment Design
  • Equipment Failure Analysis
  • Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy / instrumentation*
  • Magnetics / instrumentation*
  • Microscopy / instrumentation*
  • Miniaturization
  • Semiconductors
  • Systems Integration
  • Transducers*