This spectroscopic technique can be used only to study atomic nuclei with an odd number of protons or neutrons (or both). This situation occurs in the atoms of 1H, 13C, 19F and 31P. Such cores are magnetically active, ie possess spin, like electrons, since the nuclei possess a positive charge and have a rotational movement about an axis which makes them behave like tiny magnets.
Only complemented the response of Genaro, so that a given nucleus is visible by NMR are some very important factors, the first is that the nuclei being studied must possess spin magnetic moment nonzero if the nucleo does not possess it is invisivle by NMR. Another important factor is the natural abundance of the isotope to be studied. For example, let's think about the chemical element silicon (Si), this element has three natural isotopes: 28Si, 29Si and 30Si, with natural abundances (approximate values) of 92%, 5% and 2% respectively. The only isotope of Si that has non-zero nuclear spin is the 29 Si, that is, only 5% of all nuclei of Si present in a material contribute to the NMR signal.