Theory of spin-exchange optical pumping of 3He and 129Xe
Theory of spin-exchange optical pumping of 3He and 129Xe
复制标题
DOI:
10.1103/physreva.58.1412
复制
发表时间:
1998-08-01
影响因子:
2.9
通讯作者:
Happer, W
中科院分区:
文献类型:
--
作者:
Appelt, S;Baranga, AB;Happer, W
We present a comprehensive theory of nuclear spin polarization of He-3 and Xe-129 gases by spin-exchange collisions with optically pumped alkali-metal vapors. The most important physical processes considered an (1) spin-conserving spin-exchange collisions between like or unlike alkali-metal atoms; (2) spin-destroying collisions of the alkali-metal atoms with each other and with buffer-gas atoms; (3) electron-nuclear spin-exchange collisions between alkali-metal atoms and He-3 or Xe-129 atoms; (4) spin interactions in van der Waals molecules consisting of a Xe atom bound to an alkali-metal atom; (5) optical pumping by laser photons; (6) spatial diffusion. The static magnetic field is assumed to be small enough that the nuclear spin of the alkali-metal atom is well coupled to the electron spin and the total spin is very nearly a good quantum number. Conditions appropriate for the production of large quantities of spin-polarized He-3 or Xe-129 gas are assumed, namely, atmospheres of gas pressure and nearly complete quenching of the optically excited alkali-metal atoms by collisions with N-2 or H-2 gas. Some of the more important results of this work are as follows: (1) Most of the pumping and relaxation processes are sudden with respect to the nuclear polarization. Consequently, the steady-state population distribution of alkali-metal atoms is well described by a spin temperature, whether the rate of spin-exchange collisions between alkali-metal atoms is large or small compared to the optical pumping rate or the collisional spin-relaxation rates. (2) The population distributions that characterize the response to sudden changes in the intensity of the pumping light are not described by a spin temperature, except in the limit of very rapid spin exchange. (3) Expressions given for the radio-frequency (rf) resonance linewidths and areas can be used to make reliable estimates of the local spin polarization of the alkali-metal atoms. (4) Diffusion effects for these high-pressure conditions are mainly limited to thin layers at the cell surface and at internal resonant surfaces generated by radio-frequency magnetic fields when the static magnetic field has substantial spatial inhomogeneities. The highly localized effects of diffusion at these surfaces are described with closed-form analytic functions instead of the spatial eigenmode expansions that are appropriate for lower-pressure cells. [S1050-2947(98)07408-3].