We report record high Si-29 spin polarization obtained using dynamic nuclear
polarization in microcrystalline silicon powder. Unpaired electrons in this
silicon powder are due to dangling bonds in the amorphous region of this
intrinsically heterogeneous sample. Si-29 nuclei in the amorphous region become
polarized by forced electron-nuclear spin flips driven by off-resonant
microwave radiation while nuclei in the crystalline region are polarized by
spin diffusion across crystalline boundaries. Hyperpolarized silicon
microparticles have long T1 relaxation times and could be used as tracers for
magnetic resonance imaging.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, published versio
