The magic angle spinning (MAS) technique of solid state NMR requires samples to be rapidly rotated within a magnetic field. The rotation rate speed record is 150 kHz, or 9 million RPM, and hence MAS turbines hold the world rotation speed record for extended objects. The containers holding the samples are made of the strongest materials known, to be able to withstand the excessive centrifugal forces. To overcome the speed limit, this paper delineates a way to do so using an optical tweezers setup

To increase experimental efficiency, information can be encoded in parallel by taking advantage of highly resolved NMR spectra. Here we demonstrate parallel encoding of optimal diffusion parameters by selectively using a resonance for each molecule in the sample. This yields a factor of n decrease in experimental time since n experiments can be encoded into a single measurement. This principle can be extended to additional experimental parameters as a means to further improve measurement time.

We use the theory of magnetostatic reciprocity to compute manufacturable solutions of complex magnet geometries, establishing a quantitative metric for the placement and subsequent orientation of discrete pieces of permanent magnetic material. This leads to self-assembled micro-magnets, adjustable magnetic arrays, and an unbounded magnetic field intensity in a small volume, despite realistic modelling of complex material behaviours.

We have assembled a few off-the-shelf electronic chips and a popular Arduino Uno microcomputer board in an automatic system that performs so-called tuning and matching of an arbitrary NMR probe head at very low cost. This removes the tedium of doing the job by hand, the bane of many NMR analysts. It also brings accuracy and repeatability into the process, which is so necessary for high throughput analysis or when working with low-field permanent magnesystems with excessive magnetic field drift.