Progress with Optically Pumped Sources of Polarized Electrons

Authors

Mark A. Rosenberry, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Herman Batelaan, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
J. P. Reyes, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Timothy J. Gay, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

2002

Comments

Published in in Correlations, Polarization, and Ionization in Atomic Systems, (AIP Conference Proceedings, #604), D.H. Madison and M. Schulz eds. (AIP, New York, 2002). Copyright 2002 American Institute of Physics. Used by permission.

Abstract

We report our work in developing new "turn-key" sources of polarized electrons. These sources operate by extracting the electrons from a discharge and polarizing them through optical pumping. Preliminary work demonstrates that beams of 4 μA with greater than 20% polarization are possible. Such devices could enormously simplify the running of many experiments in the fields of atomic structure, magnetic materials and biophysics.