Preamplifier noise temperature

The most important factors in determining the s/n ratio or sensitivity of an NMR experiment in a cryogenic NMR probe, insofar as the hardware itself is concerned, are the temperature of the coil, 7/ the resistance of the coil, Rc the temperature of the sample, Ts and the resistance added to the coil by the presence of the sample or the sample resistance, Rs. The temperature of the rf coil in a cryogenic NMR probe is typically in the range of 15-30K commercial examples of the Varian Cold-probe operate at 25 K. The preamplifier noise temperature is generally in the range of 10-15 K and the coil resistance is small compared to a conventional room temperature NMR probe. The first two terms in the expression below provide the basis for the vast improvement in the performance of a cryogenic relative to a conventional NMR probe. The sample temperature, Ts, and sample resistance, Rs,... 

In addition to the sample concentration and specific parameters related to the pulse sequence being used, the spectral signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) depends on various components of the spectrometer hardware, in particular the sensitivity of the probe and preamplifier. The SNR can be related to the temperature of the receiver coil ( Tq), its resistance (Rc), the temperature of the sample (Tg), the resistance added to the coil by the sample (i s), and the noise temperature of the amplifier (TA) by the following equation 7... 

An electronic noise component is also generated by the transfer of charges and by the preamplifier. For each readout process, one readout noise is generated. This readout noise is not very sensitive to temperature but increases with reading-out speed. Readout noise for a HCCD is about 10 electrons RMS or less. 

Maser amplifiers are used where the requirement for a very low noise amplifier outweighs the technological problems of cooling 10 low temperatures. They have been used in passive and active radiostronomical work, in satellite communications, and us preamplifiers for microwave spectrometry The ammonia and the atomic hydrogen masers have been studied as frequency standards and have heen used in accurate tests of special relativity. 

Sensitivity can furthermore be increased up to fourfold by using cryogenic probe technology, in which the radio frequency (rf) transmitter and preamplifier coils are super-cooled to 20K by helium gas that ensures higher signal-to-noise of the electrical signal. Vacuum insulation around the rf coil allows the NMR sample situated only millimeters away from the coil to be measured at ambient temperature. 

E is the energy of characteristic X-ray line and Fisa constant called the Fano factor, which has a value of 0.12 for Si(Li). electronic noise factor, plays an important role in the resolution. Reduction of the electronic noise will improve the resolution of the EDS detector. Thus, the Si(Li) diode and the preamplifier are mounted in a cylindrical column (the cryostat) so that they can operate at the temperature of liquid nitrogen (-196°C) in order to reduce the electrical noise and increase the signal-to-noise ratio. 

The move to all-digital instrument components and digital oversampling (as used in CD players, for example) added further benefits. Commercial systems now offer cryogenic probes, which improve signal-to-noise (S/N) by reducing the operating temperature of the coil and the preamplifier. The increase in the S/N ratio by a factor of 4, as compared to conventional probes, leads to a possible reduction in experiment time of 16-fold or a reduction in required sample concentration by a factor of... 

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