Patent ID: 7248046

Claim:
A nuclear quadrupole resonance detection system comprising: a) an array of n high temperature superconductor sensors, wherein n≧2, wherein the n high temperature superconductor sensors only receive nuclear quadrupole resonance signals, and wherein the n high temperature superconductor sensors are each comprised of at least one high temperature superconductor self-resonant planar coil; b) one or more copper, silver or aluminum shielded-loop resonator coils for applying an RF excitation signal to a sample to be scanned for nuclear quadrupole resonance, the excitation signal being operative to excite the quadrupolar nuclei of the sample; and c) a capacitive decoupling circuit to decouple the n sensors, wherein the capacitive decoupling circuit includes n decoupling loops, wherein one decoupling loop is inductively coupled to each of the n sensors, and wherein each of the n decoupling loops is connected to a capacitive network.