High-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy in a circularly polarized laser beam.

Nuclei in a fluid subjected to a continuous wave circularly polarized light beam are predicted to experience a static magnetic field proportional to E(+/-) x E(+/-), where E(+/-) is the electric vector of the right or left circularly polarized wave and the dot denotes a time derivative. The field strongly depends on the local electronic structure and is present in all atoms. For an intensity of 10 watts per square centimeter propagating in the direction of the field of a magnetic resonance spectrometer, the general theory presented here predicts shifts of +/- 4 x 10(-8) hertz for protons and +/- 10(-5) hertz for fluorine-19. Larger shifts are predicted if the laser frequency is near an optical absorption.