Patent ID: 8525518

Claim:
A segmented transmission line impedance matching network for NMR probes, comprising: A segmented adjustable transmission line structure which relies upon reflections between transmission lines of different impedances that are serially connected to match the impedance of a coil or resonator to the characteristic impedance of an NMR spectrometer; wherein at least two dielectric slugs are independently positioned within said segmented adjustable transmission line; wherein adjustment of the positions of the at least two dielectric slugs allows the variable tuning and matching needed for NMR probes; wherein 3λ free/4 is less than the overall length of an RF probe, where λ free is the length in free-space wavelengths; wherein the total length of the RF probe for multiple dielectric segments is L = λ free ⁡ ( 3 4 + 1 2 ⁢ ɛ r ) where ∈ r is the dielectric constant of the at least two dielectric slugs.