NMR experiments require creating a transient non-stationary state of the spin system. In conventional high-field experiments, radio frequency pulses tilt the magnetization from along the main magnetic field direction to the transverse plan. Once in the transverse plan, the magnetization is no longer in a stationary state (or eigenstate) and so it begins to precess about the main magnetic field creating a detectable oscillating magnetic field.
In ZULF experiments, constant magnetic field pulses are used to induce non-stationary states of the spin system. The two main strategies consist of (1) switching of the magnetic field from pseudo-high field to zero (or ultra-low) field, or (2) of ramping down the magnetic field experienced by the spins to zero field in order to convert the Zeeman populations into zero-field eigenstates adiabatically and subsequently in applying a constant magnetic field pulse to induce a coherence between the zero-field eigenstates. In the simple case of a heteronuclear pair of J-coupled spins, both these excitation schemes induce a transition between the singlet and triplet-0 states, which generates a detectable oscillatory magnetic field.
More sophisticated pulse sequences have been reported including selective pulses, two-dimensional experiments and decoupling schemes.