A radio-frequency source using direct digital synthesis and field programmable gate array for nuclear magnetic resonance

A radio-frequency (rf) source for nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is described. With the application of direct digital synthesis (DDS), the rf source has the ability to yield rf pulses with short switching time and high resolution in frequency and phase. To facilitate the generation of a soft pulse, a field programmable gate array (FPGA) cooperating with a pulse programmer is used as the auxiliary controller of the DDS chip. Triggered by the pulse programmer, the FPGA automatically controls the DDS to generate soft pulse according to predefined parameters, and the operation mode of the pulse programmer is optimized. The rf source is suitable for being used as transmitter in low-field (<1 T) NMR applications, for example, magnetic resonance imaging and relaxation measurement. As a compact and low-cost module, the rf source is of general use for constructing low-field NMR spectrometer. (C) 2009 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3271379]