Abstract
A small fraction of metastable He/sup 3/ is maintained, by means of a r- f discharge, in He/sup 3/ in a magnetic field. The metastable atoms are partially polarized by optical pumping using a 1- mu V circularly polarized pumping light. Further, however, the stable and metastable atoms are capable of exchanging excitations; in the exchange reactions, the outgoing stable atoms may have magnetic quantum numbers differing by unity from those of the ingoing stable atoms. Thus spin-flip operators connecting the stable and metastable atoms are introduced, and the exchange reactions have the effect of polarizing the stable ground-state atoms. Nuclear polarizations of 0.8 and 3.5% are obtained at room temperature at pressures of 10 and 1 man Hg respectively. Nuclear magnetic resonance studies of ground-state and 3/sub s1/ He/sup 3/ atoms are also reported. (T.F.H.)
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