Effective neutron targets

Abstract

Because of the lack of a free neutron target, deuterium targets have been used extensively in studying the neutron structure. The unique spin structure of the 3He ground state wave function and the recent developments in laser technologies made polarized 3He targets widely used in many experiments from neutron electromagnetic from factor studies to nucleon spin structure function measurements at all major electron accelerator facilities. In this talk, the current status of the polarized 3He targets will be reviewed. I will focus on neutron electromagnetic form factor studies using polarized 3He targets. The polarized nucleon spin structure function measurements using polarized 3He targets will also be discussed.