Solenoidal microcoil design - Part II: Optimizing winding parameters for maximum signal-to-noise performance

In high-field proton NMR, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) achieved with a close-fitting solenoidal microcoil is adversely affected by radio frequency (RF) losses in the coil, its leads, the capacitor used to tune it; and finally, the sample. In Part II, a rigorous description of these various losses is presented, and their severity is related to the details of coil design. Results not only provide a rational basis for defining a microcoil's optimal wire diameter and the number of turns, but also for evaluating how the SNR varies with coil Size and NMR frequency in high-field proton NMR studies involving either conducting or non-conducting samples. (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.