Physical Review Letters
Photoproduction of Spin-Polarized Hydrogen Atoms and Electrons in Mixtures of Cesium Vapor and Hydrogen Gas
Natarajan D. Bhaskar, James C. Camparo, Martin Ligare, W. Happer
Abstract
First observations of the photogeneration of spin-polarized hydrogen atoms and electrons are reported. A mixture of cesium vapor and helium and hydrogen buffer gases is optically pumped with a circularly polarized tunable---dye-laser beam (4593 \AA{}). The paramagnetic species (H atoms, ${e}^{\ensuremath{-}}$) generated by the laser-induced processes are detected with use of spin-exchange-magnetic-resonance spectroscopy.