Fundamentals of Spin-Exchange Optical Pumping

The standard model of Spin-Exchange Optical Pumping of 3He has come under close scrutiny as researchers try to maximize the quantity and polarization of 3He. This paper will review four important effects that have come to light: 1) pumping with frequency narrowed diode lasers significantly improves...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of physics. Conference series 2011-06, Vol.294 (1), p.12001-8
Main Author: Walker, Thad G
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Breakdown
Broadband
Collisions
Lasers
Narrowband
Optical pumping
Physics
Polarization
Semiconductor lasers
Vapor pressure
Walls
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Summary:The standard model of Spin-Exchange Optical Pumping of 3He has come under close scrutiny as researchers try to maximize the quantity and polarization of 3He. This paper will review four important effects that have come to light: 1) pumping with frequency narrowed diode lasers significantly improves the polarization and production rate as compared to off-the-shelf broadband sources 2) Rb-K mixtures again improve the production rate due to reduced collisional loss in K-He collisions, 3) a unexplained 3He wall relaxation mechanism that scales closely with alkali vapor pressure limits the attainable 3He polarization to about 80%, 4) a small collisionally-induced breakdown in the selection rules for optical pumping explains why narrowband lasers are so advantageous, and may explain some observed limitations for Rb-K pumping as well.
ISSN:1742-6596
1742-6588
1742-6596
DOI:10.1088/1742-6596/294/1/012001