Polarization measurement of atomic hydrogen beam spin-exchanged with optically oriented sodium atoms

Abstract

The spin-exchange reaction between hydrogen atoms and optically oriented sodium atoms was used to produce a polarized atomic hydrogen beam. The electron-spin polarization of the atomic hydrogen beam, which underwent the spin-exchange reaction with the optically oriented sodium atoms, was measured. A beam polarization of −(8.0 ± 0.6)% was obtained when the thickness and polarization of the sodium target were (5.78 ± 0.23) × 10 13 atoms/cm 2 and −(39.6 ± 1.6)%, respectively. The value of the spin-exchange cross section in the forward scattering direction, whose scattering angle in the laboratory system was less than 1.0°, was obtained from the experimental results as Δσ ex = ∫ dσ dω dω θ lab =0 →1.0° =(3.39±0.34)× −15 cm 2. This value is almost seven times larger than the theoretical value calculated from the NaH potential. The potential was computed quantum mechanically in the space of the appropriate wave functions of the hydrogen and the sodium atoms.