A polarized beams project at ISAC Original Research Article

A polarizer beam line at the radioactive beams facility ISAC at TRIUMF is nearly complete. Initially for 8Li+ ions for β-NMR studies in condensed matter, it can in principle supply three or more experiments simultaneously, and the technique used is practicable with all alkali-metal ion beams. An atomic beam, created with over 90% efficiency by passing the initial unpolarized 30 keV beam through a sodium vapor jet target, will be polarized by colinear optical pumping. A novel feature is that the atomic beam is reionized with demonstrated high efficiency in a helium gas target. The emittance growth through the helium cell has been measured for stable 7Li+ beam on a test stand and found to be small. We report these measurements as a function of helium flow rates. A preliminary polarized 8Li+ run is planned for May, 2000.