Polarization of 3He elastically scattered by 12C and the 3He spin-orbit optical potential

Abstract

A double scattering experiment was performed to obtain an estimate of the polarization of 3He ions of about 40 MeV elastically scattered from 12C. Elastic cross sections were measured at 36 and 42 MeV. An optical model analysis was made of the cross-section and polarization data. It was found that optical model calculations were consistent with the experiment only if the optical model spin-orbit potential depth was less than or equal to about 3.5 MeV, in contrast with the 12 to 14 MeV found for protons.