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Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 143004 (2001) [4 pages]

Wall Relaxation of 3He in Spin-Exchange Cells

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R. E. Jacob, S. W. Morgan, and B. Saam*
Department of Physics, University of Utah, 115 South 1400 East, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112-0830

J. C. Leawoods
Department of Physics, Washington University, CB 1105, St. Louis, Missouri 63130-4899

Received 26 June 2001; published 17 September 2001

See accompanying Physics Focus

The 3He longitudinal spin-relaxation rate T1-1 is crucial for production of highly polarized 3He by spin-exchange optical pumping. We show that T1-1 is increased by a factor of 2–20 solely by exposure of spin-exchange cells to a few-kG magnetic field. The original T1-1 can be restored by degaussing the cell. The effect is attributed to magnetic surface sites and has been observed in both Pyrex and aluminosilicate-glass cells. Our results both advance the understanding of wall relaxation and demonstrate the use of 3He as an extremely sensitive probe of surface magnetism.

© 2001 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.87.143004
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.87.143004
PACS:
33.25.+k, 34.50.Dy, 75.70.Rf, 82.65.+r

*Corresponding author.Email address: saam@physics.utah.edu

 
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