Combined Advanced RF and New Generation Digital Receiver in an NMR Machine - AVANCE NEO

Bruker’s AVANCE NEO is the latest in their established AVANCE product range, which has helped make Bruker the leading global provider of NMR systems.

The AVANCE III HD system already delivers state-of-the-art performance in NMR and the AVANCE NEO builds even further upon this. The AVANCE NEO provides an extended dynamic range, improved scalability and flexibility and more rapid control.

The AVANCE NEO uses a ‘transceive’ system which means that every NMR channel can act as both a transmitter and a receiver. This means that each channel functions alone as a spectrometer with complete transmission, receive and RF generation capabilities. This design gives operators improved flexibility over instrument set up and running over multiple channels, making the execution of multi-receive experiments simple.

The AVANCE NEO also uses an associated client-server software architecture (TopSpin 4 and higher) and an embedded acquisition server. This architecture means the spectrometer can be ran without using the client computer, allowing operators to run the spectrometer using their chosen operating system from any possible location, e.g. for cloud based operation.

The AVANCE NEO’s greater frequency range, which can reach beyond 1.2 GHz, in addition to improvements in diagnostics, set-up, memory buffers and more means that it will be the favored NMR system for NMR researchers, both now and in the future.

Introducing Wide-band RF Amplifiers

The AVANCE NEO uses unique wide-band amplifiers meaning that individual low-band and high-band amplifiers are not needed. These amplifiers are standardized to work with liquid samples and can give full coverage of all relevant frequencies above 100 W (high frequency range) and above 500 W (heteronuclei range).

Amplifiers of higher powers can be used for NMR in imaging and solid-state experiments.

Taking RF Generation and Detection One Step Further

In the AVANCE NEO a new generation receiver is combined with state-of-the-art RF generation to give a unique transceiver system. Every individual channel is equipped with four distinct numerically controlled oscillators (NCOs) and one receiver. Amplitude, frequency and phase can be set at the same time in 12.5 ns.

Each transceiver possesses 1 GB of Waveform memory facilitating the production of complex shapes and sequences.

The receiver works at an intermediate frequency of 1.852 GHz which facilitates spectrometer frequencies that exceed 1.25 GHz. Digitally filtered spectra with a maximum sweep width of 7.5 MHz can be collected using the analog digital converter. FIDs are collated into double precision data to prevent data overflow.

Lock

The Digilock of the AVANCE NEO uses rapid FPGAs, the most modern analog-to-digital (and reverse) convertors which have clock rates that can reach 320 MHz. The system is also capable of rapid digital signal processing which allows locking onto complex deuterated solvents which have multiple NMR peaks.

Combined with rapid signal processors and ultra-fast convertors this design provides the best performance at improved precision and with minimized impact from external RF signals. A previously unachieved level of lock stability and sensitivity is ensured by coupling this design with the cold deuterium pre-amplifiers used in all of Bruker’s CryoProbes.

HPLNA for Optimal Sensitivity and Minimum Perturbations

The AVANCE NEO’s HPLNA is produced to deliver the best performance for both liquid and solid-state spectroscopy. The system uses modern GaAs technology to provide optimum sensitivity and a unique 4kW peak power active Transmit/Receive switch delivers complete selective excitation for use in any NMR experiments. When combined with the systems advanced electronics, advanced tuning and matching curves can be shown.

The thoughtfully designed filtering and packaging of the HPLNA is highly resistant to external electromagnetic interference, meaning other RF sources (e.g. HDTV) do not influence the data collected. This means that the HPLNA has the best possible sensitivity with a highly reduced risk of signal perturbation from digital communication in the surrounding NMR lab.

SmartVT and the SmartCooler

The SmartVT, a novel variable temperature (VT) system, with a multi-temperature plug-and-play system, and the new SmartCooler result in improved NMR performance and stability. The SmartVT is improved by the inclusion of new methods of regulation and airflow monitoring, with the ability to manage four heater channels whilst regulating nine thermal sensors – all at a better speed and precision than previously possible.

The SmartCooler, Bruker’s latest VT gas pre-condition system for NMR spectrometers, when used alongside the SmartVT, facilitates accurate control and monitoring of the NMR sample temperature. This ensures that NMR results are independent of external instabilities, such as daily temperature changes or the VT gas supply.

Direct data transfer between the VT controller and the lock ensures safety features (e.g. solvent dependant temperature controls) and control features on the thermometer.