Development of polarized sources based on molecular photodissociation

29 Sept 2022, 14:00
25m
HIM

HIM

Helmholtz Institute Mainz Staudingerweg 18 55128 Mainz

Speaker

Mr Chrysovalantis Kannis (Institut für Kernphysik, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany and University of Crete, Department of Physics, Herakleio, Greece)

Description

Molecular photodissociation is an innovative method for the preparation of polarized atoms and molecules. It is a fundamental chemical process that involves the absorption of one or more polarized photons by a molecule including its fragmentation into polarized atomic (or molecular) fragments. Recently, T. P. Rakitzis’ group produced high densities of spin polarized hydrogen atoms applying molecular photodissociation to hydrogen halides. The obtained densities ($10^{19}$ cm$^{-3}$) and short production times (ns timescales) surpass by several orders of magnitude conventional methods such as spin-exchange optical pumping and Stern-Gerlach spin separation. These density and time regimes make it an ideal candidate for a broad range of applications, e.g. laser-induced acceleration from polarized gas targets and polarized five-nucleon fusion reactions (D-T, D-$^{3}$He). The second has been shown to have an increased cross section by $\sim 50\%$ compared to the unpolarized case.

Category Polarized Sources

Primary author

Mr Chrysovalantis Kannis (Institut für Kernphysik, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany and University of Crete, Department of Physics, Herakleio, Greece)

Co-authors

Prof. Markus Büscher (Peter-Grünberg Institut, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany and Institut für Laser- und Plasmaphysik, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany) Dr Ralf Engels (Institut für Kernphysik, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany) Prof. Andreas Lehrach (Institut für Kernphysik, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany and III. Physikalisches Institut B, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany) Mr Michalis Xygkis (Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas, Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser, Heraklion, Crete, Greece and University of Crete, Department of Physics, Herakleio, Greece) Prof. Rakitzis T. Peter (Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas, Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser, Heraklion, Crete, Greece and University of Crete, Department of Physics, Herakleio, Greece)

Presentation materials