When electron spin polarization deviates from its thermal equilibrium value, polarization transfers between electrons and nuclei can occur spontaneously through electron-nuclear cross relaxation and/or spin-state mixing among electrons and nuclei. For example, the polarization transfer is spontaneous after a homolysis chemical reaction. On the other hand, when the electron spin system is in a thermal equilibrium, the polarization transfer requires continuous microwave irradiation at a frequency close to the corresponding electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) frequency. In particular, mechanisms for the microwave-driven DNP processes are categorized into the Overhauser effect (OE), the solid-effect (SE), the cross-effect (CE) and thermal-mixing (TM).