Operational amplifiers revisited for low field magnetic resonance relaxation time measurement electronics

Advances in permanent magnet technology has seen more reports of sensor applications of low field magnetic resonance. Whilst most are either in the 10–20 MHz range or in the earth’s field, measurements at below 1 MHz are beginning to become more widespread. This range is below the need for careful radio frequency electronics design but above the audio domain and represents an interesting cross over. Many commercial spectrometers do not include the pulse power amplifier, duplexer and preamplifier as these depend on the frequency range used. In this work we demonstrate that, with the current specifications of the humble operational amplifier, the most simple form of an inverting design using only two resistors and decoupling, can effectively provide this ‘front end’ electronics. The low powers used mean crossed Ge diodes provide an excellent duplexer and it is suitable for battery powered applications.