Nuclear tensor polarization in a laser-driven polarized deuterium internal target

• Published in: Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment Vol. 417; no. 2; pp. 182 - 196
• Main Authors: Fedchak, J.A., Bailey, K., Cummings, W.J., Gao, H., Holt, R.J., Jones, C.E., Kowalczyk, R.S., O’Neill, T., Poelker, M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier B.V 11-11-1998
• Subjects: ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS; DEUTERIUM TARGET; MAGNETIC FIELDS; NUCLEI; OPTICAL PUMPING; ORIENTED NUCLEI; POLARIZATION; SPIN EXCHANGE; 42.62-b; 29.25Pj; 32.80Bx
• ISSN: 0168-9002; 1872-9576
• DOI: 10.1016/S0168-9002(98)00738-4

We present the results of the first direct measurement of nuclear polarization in an optically pumped spin-exchange polarized deuterium target. Measurements of the nuclear tensor polarization
p
zz
are made in a storage cell as a function of flow of deuterium nuclei. For these measurements, the optical pumping was performed on atoms in magnetic fields of 600 and 3600
G. These measurements verify that the spin-exchange method is capable of producing polarized deuterium nuclei without the use of rf transitions. The electronic polarization,
P
e, is also measured. The
P
e and
p
zz
measurements at 600
G indicate that the system is in spin-temperature equilibrium, whereas the 3600
G measurements show signatures of non-equilibrium effects.
P
e is also measured with the system operated as a source of polarized atoms, with no storage cell. These measurements are compared with previous measurements using a similar source.