Production of a nuclear spin polarized23Na-beam by optical pumping

Nuclear spin polarization of an atomic²³Na-beam was produced by a combination of optical pumping with a dye laser and a sextupole magnet and, alternatively, by optical pumping with two dye lasers. The maximum value measured for the vector polarization wasP _z=0.86+0.08, using beam foil spectroscopy. Further improvements of polarized ion sources based on this principle are discussed.