Optical pumping in 3He with a laser

P.J. Nacher , M. Leduc

Optical pumping of ground state 3He has several peculiar features because nuclear polarization is first obtained in the metastable 2 3S state and then transferred to the ground state (indirect optical pumping); this introduces non-linearities in the equation of evolution of the populations. Here we present a numerical calculation of the kinetics of optical pumping in 3 He, which allows a detailed study of the influence of the characteristics of the pumping source (intensity, frequency, polarization). These characteristics can be conveniently varied with a laser, and we describe experiments with a 3He gas at room or low temperatures, and compare the results obtained to the numerical predictions.

Mots clés: helium; optical pumping

Domaines: Articles anciens

P.J. Nacher, M. Leduc. Optical pumping in 3He with a laser. Journal de Physique, 1985, 46 (12), pp.2057-2073. ⟨10.1051/jphys:0198500460120205700⟩. ⟨jpa-00210154⟩