3He spin filter for neutrons

The strongly spin-dependent absorption of neutrons in nuclear spin-polarized He-3 opens up the possibility of polarizing neutrons from reactors and spallation sources over the full kinematical range of cold, thermal and hot neutrons. This paper gives a report on the neutron spin filter (NSF) development program at Mainz. The polarization technique is based on direct optical pumping of metastable He-3 atoms combined with a polarization preserving mechanical compression of the gas up to a pressure of several bar, necessary to run a NSF. The concept of a remote type of operation using detachable NSF cells is presented which requires long nuclear spin relaxation times of order 100 hours. A short survey of their use under experimental conditions, e. g. largesolid- angle polarization analysis, is given. In neutron particle physics NSFs are used in precision measurements to test fundamental symmetry concepts.