Long nuclear spin coherence times for molecules trapped in high-purity solid parahydrogen

TL;DR

This study demonstrates significantly extended nuclear spin coherence times in HD molecules trapped in high-purity solid parahydrogen, highlighting the impact of matrix purity on quantum coherence.

Contribution

The paper reports the measurement of extended T2 and T2* times in HD molecules within high-purity parahydrogen, surpassing previous results and analyzing the effects of matrix purity.

Findings

Longer T2 and T2* times achieved with high-purity matrices

Coherence times limited by the parahydrogen matrix itself

Measured T1 relaxation times in the system

Abstract

We measure the ensemble transverse relaxation time (T2*) and spin-echo coherence time (T2) of the proton spin of HD molecules trapped in solid parahydrogen. By using high-purity parahydrogen matrices, we are able to measure significantly longer T2 and T2* times than seen in prior work. We also measure the longitudinal spin relaxation time T1. We examine how these parameters scale with the matrix purity and find limits on the coherence time from the parahydrogen matrix itself.