Test of a polarized hydrogen gas target based on the storage cell technique

Abstract

A polarized hydrogen gas target for use in storage rings has been developed. One application may be the production of a stored polarized antiproton beam via spin dependent attenuation which would allow a study of the spin-dependence of antiproton-proton interactions. In order to increase the target thickness compared to jet targets the polarized hydrogen atoms are injected into a T-shaped storage cell. Polarization and density of the target have been measured in a test experiment by elastic scattering of an α-beam from the Heidelberg MP-tandem accelerator. The target polarization amounts to 83±8% of the maximum possible value. The target areal density of n = (2.6±0.1±0.2) × 1013H/cm2 is consistent with the density calculated from the measured H beam intensity.