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Le Journal de Physique Colloques

STABILITY OF SPIN-POLARIZED ATOMIC HYDROGEN AGAINST RECOMBINATION REACTIONS

J. M. Yuan, T. K. Lim

Published Jul 1, 1980• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

Studies on the stability of spin-polarized atomic hydrogen against collisional quenching are briefly reviewed. Previous work reveals the importance of the three-body recombination reaction as a destructive mechanism. An order-of-magnitude estimate of this three-body reaction rate made previously leads to a maximal stable density equal to 1017 atoms/cm3 for a duration of a day. A discussion of approximations used suggests that the real density could be a couple of orders of magnitude higher.

DOI
10.1051/jphyscol:1980707

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Studies on the stability of spin-polarized atomic hydrogen against collisional quenching are briefly reviewed. Previous work reveals the importance of the three-body recombination reaction as a destructive mechanism. An order-of-magnitude estimate of this three-body reaction rate made previously leads to a maximal stable density equal to 1017 atoms/cm3 for a duration of a day. A discussion of approximations used suggests that the real density could be a couple of orders of magnitude higher.
Hydrogen atoms with their electron spin polarized in a strong magnetic field ("spinaligned hydrogen" ; symbolized H+) should remain a metastable gaseous quantum fluid even at absolute zero. However, there are many possible ways of destroying this metastability. At high density ≥ 1021/cm3) Berlinsky et al. have suggested that a coherent spin-wave destruction mechanism prevents stability. At lower densities (high enough for Bose-Einstein condensation, however), gas phase and surface recombination mechanisms should be of primary concern. One critical question is essentially the explosion limit for H+., i.e. at what density will a single electronic spin flip event trigger massive recombination, heating and destruction of the sample (perhaps a good "detector" for highly forbidden processes) ? The second critical question is what events will trigger such explosions assuming one is above the limit ? We shall present our current understanding of these two critical questions (including high accuracy two-body collision calculations) and their implications in experimental design (e.g. field inhomogeneity effects, helium coating of surfaces, removal of deuterium impurities, etc.).
In view of the failure of the Kagan dipole mechanism to explain the magnetic field dependence of the H+H+H recombination rate in spin-polarized atomic hydrogen, we consider an additional process, the so-called dipole-exchange mechanism. Two simple approaches to estimate its consequences turn out to be promising but the question of the role of different and higher-order processes remains open. We therefore turn to in principle, an exact approach to the three-body recombination, including all possible processes. The first numerical results of the approach are presented.
We have nearly tripled the range of magnetic-field strength over which bulk three-body recombination has been studied in spin-polarized atomic hydrogen. Analysis of our data (8-20 T) shows for the first time a qualitative agreement with theoretical predictions for the field dependence of dipolar recombination. Our results for the three-body exchange recombination are over an order of magnitude lower than a previously published value, and thus in reasonable agreement with theory. We discuss the prospects for observing Bose-Einstein condensation in very high magnetic fields.
A new technique enabled the authors to compress doubly polarized hydrogen by up to five orders of magnitude and study the sample in very small volumes at constant density up to 2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}1018{10}^{18}1018/cm3{\mathrm{cm}}^{3}cm3. The first determination of the bulk three-body dipolar recombination rate was made, ${{K}_{V}}^{3\mathrm{b}}=4(1)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}39}$ cm6{\mathrm{cm}}^{6}cm6 ${\mathrm{s}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$. The authors also identified a new process, bulk electronic dipolar $b\ensuremath{\rightarrow}c$-state relaxation with rate constant ${{G}_{V}}^{\mathrm{bc}}\mathrm{exp}(2{\ensuremath{\mu}}_{\mathrm{B}}\frac{B}{{k}_{\mathrm{B}}}T)=8(4)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}16}$ cm3{\mathrm{cm}}^{3}cm3 ${\mathrm{s}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$. Samples were very delicate and too rapid a compression could result in an explosion.