Rapid T1 measurement via decay-recovery decomposition: applications in fringe field and distributed relaxation experiments

Spin-lattice relaxation time (T(1)) measurements are often time-consuming due to the need to measure the full equilibrium magnetization with a long wait time. However, any magnetization recovery can be decomposed into pure recovery and pure decay components, the latter of which lends itself to a much simpler and faster extraction of T(1). We demonstrate several pulse sequences that accomplish this decomposition experimentally and illustrate its applications in a steady magnetic field gradient, and in materials possessing a broad distribution of T(1).