Measurement of radiation damping rate constants in nuclear magnetic resonance by inversion recovery and automated compensation of selective pulses

A method is proposed to measure the radiation damping rate constant based o n the analysis of the nonexponential recovery of the magnetization after in version. It is applicable when the recovery is dominated by radiation dampi ng rather than by relaxation processes. The accurate measurement of the rad iation damping rate constant can be used to simplify a recent method for th e compensation of radiation damping effects during the application of selec tive pulses [Chen, Jerschow, and Bodenhausen, Chem. Phys. Lett. 308, 397 (1 999)]. This procedure can now be automated, as illustrated by applications to selective inversion and excitation. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physi cs. [S0021-9606(00)01715-3].