Polarized radioactive beam at ISAC

The polarized beam line at ISAC relies on the well known technique of collinear optical pumping to polarize the nuclear spins of a low energy (10-60 keV) radioactive beam. Alkali-metal beams are longitudinally polarized by optical pumping of a fast atomic beam, which is created by charge exchange of the incident ion beam in a Na vapour cell. At ISAC, the beam is then reionized in a He gas target and directed to the experiments. To date, 30 keV beams of Li-8 and Li-9 have been polarized, and Li-11 and Na-20 beams are scheduled immediately following this conference. The polarization of the Li-8 beam, using a dual frequency, standing wave Ti:sapphire laser, is up to similar to80%. High polarization is achieved by matching the laser bandwidth to the energy spread in the beam. The status of the facility is reported. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.