250GHz CW gyrotron oscillator for dynami

In this paper, we describe a 250 GHz gyrotron oscillator, a critical component of an integrated system for magic angle spinning (MAS) dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) experiments at 9T, corresponding to 380 MHz 1H frequency. The 250 GHz gyrotron is the first gyro-device designed with the goal of seamless integration with an NMR spectrometer for routine DNP-enhanced NMR spectroscopy and has operated under computer control for periods of up to 21 days with a 100% duty cycle. Following a brief historical review of the field, we present studies of the membrane protein bacteriorhodopsin (bR) using DNP-enhanced multidimensional NMR. These results include assignment of active site resonances in [U-13C,15N]-bR and demonstrate the utility of DNP for studies of membrane proteins. Next, we review the theory of gyro-devices from quantum mechanical and classical viewpoints and discuss the unique considerations that apply to gyrotron oscillators designed for DNP experiments. We then characterize the operation of the 250 GHz gyrotron in detail, including its long-term stability and controllability. We have measured the spectral purity of the gyrotron emission using both homodyne and heterodyne techniques. Radiation intensity patterns from the corrugated waveguide that delivers power to the NMR probe were measured using two new techniques to confirm pure mode content: a thermometric approach based on the temperature-dependent color of liquid crystalline media applied to a substrate and imaging with a pyroelectric camera. We next present a detailed study of the mode excitation characteristics of the gyrotron.