Development of a 3He-based neutron spin filter at Indiana University

Chenyang (Peter) Jiang (Indiana University)

At Indiana University, we have been working on developing 3He neutron spin filters. Our study focuses on transmission neutron spin filters based on polarized 3He and its applications. 3He gas is polarized by spin-exchange optical pumping (SEOP) of Rb vapor in a glass cell. Polarized 3He is stored in a uniform magnetic field produced by a shielded solenoid. This system is also embedded in an adiabatic fast passage (AFP) nuclear resonance (NMR) device which flips the 3He spin axis with nearly no polarization loss. By using AFP, we don.t need the neutron spin flipper, thus saving space for other instruments. Polarized 3He is usually produced offsite using the SEOP method. Here we report a compact SEOP 3He pumping system which can be used as an in situ polarizer/analyzer. The onsite system can effectively prevent the loss of polarization which usually exists in offline systems during cell movement and shipment. We describe the detailed design of this analyzer as optimized for SESAME applications.

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