Erwin Hahn Created 2026-10-24 Updated 2026-11-05
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Erwin Hahn discovered spin echo signals, in which radiofrequency pulses restore an observable signal from nuclear spins that have apparently lost phase coherence. A spread of static magnetic fields makes different spins precess at different rates; suitable later pulses allow this reversible dephasing to refocus. The echo amplitude then probes relaxation and diffusion, rather than being determined solely by static field inhomogeneity. His 1950 analysis made pulsed nuclear magnetic resonance a method for distinguishing different causes of signal decay.[ref]
A physicist who developed spin echo methods and studied nuclear magnetic resonance and optics.[ref]
Figure 1.
Portrait of Erwin Louis Hahn
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