# Diamond Rotors

> **NIH NIH R01** · MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY · 2021 · $419,786

## Abstract

Project Summary
 The research in this proposal focuses on the development of methods for fabricating magic-angle
spinning (MAS) rotors from single crystal diamond logs for applications (1) in ambient temperature MAS
experiments, and (2) dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) MAS experiments. In particular, there is an ever-
increasing push towards rotors that attain higher spinning frequencies for MAS NMR in order to improve
sensitivity and resolution. However, the spinning frequencies currently obtainable (~100 kHz) are limited by
the strength of the material from which the rotors are fabricated – typically ZrO2 with flexural strength of
~800 MPa. Above ~120 kHz the ZrO2 rotors explode. Diamond is one of the strongest materials on earth
with flexural strengths of 2-5 GPa for single crystal samples and therefore an ideal material to manufacture
MAS rotors. Furthermore, diamond is transparent to terahertz radiation, so it is ideal for DNP experiments.
Finally, it has excellent thermal properties – it thermal conductivity is 10x better than Cu. Thus, it is easy to
compensate for the aerodynamic heating associated with MAS. Machining diamond cylinders to high
tolerance required for rotors requires a novel laser machining processes which we have begun to develop to
produce small (≤1.3 mm OD) diamond rotors. Here we propose to refine our processes and test them in our
available instrumentation. The goal is to produce 1.3 mm, 0.7 mm and a new generation of 0.5 mm rotors
that will attain ωr/2π>300 kHz and improve the resolution of MAS spectra by a factor of ~5 over what is
currently available. In addition, we anticipate that diamond rotors will lead to larger DNP enhancements.
We also describe some applications to amyloid fibrils and membrane proteins where we anticipate that
diamond rotors will have a significant scientific impact.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10299171
- **Project number:** 1R01GM139055-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
- **Principal Investigator:** Neil Gershenfeld
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $419,786
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-09-10 → 2025-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10299171

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10299171, Diamond Rotors (1R01GM139055-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10299171. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*