Structure of glasses for 3He neutron spin filter cells

Abstract

In spin-exchange optical pumping, there is unknown excess relaxation, called the X-factor, that limits attainable 3He polarization. It is known that the X-factor depends on the glass containers. Hence, it is expected that there are cell-to-cell variations in microscopic structure among the cells and that these variations affect the attainable 3He polarization. However, microscopic structure of the glasses for 3He neutron spin filters has not been clarified yet. In this paper, we have performed precise X-ray diffraction measurements for the glasses at SPring-8 using synchrotron radiation. The structural differences are observed between several types of glasses, and also, between the GE180 glass pieces with different thermal treatment. Based on the results, the structural influence on the performance of 3He neutron spin filters is discussed. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.