Polarization of hydrogen molecules HD, D 2 and DT

Abstract

Highly polarized Hydrogen molecules in the solid phase are of primary interest as “polarized targets” for Nuclear Physics and “polarized fuel” for Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF). We are developing new techniques to polarize Hydrogen molecules. There are 2 objectives: production of polarized HD targets by static polarization, in order to perform nuclear physics experiments; and investigation of dynamic polarization processes for HD, D 2 and DT, for fusion research. These approaches are described and the results already obtained for the static polarization of HD are given. The possibility to investigate dynamic polarization methods for HD and apply them to DT in order to produce polarized DT fuel for fusion is discussed.