Progress with Optically Pumped Sources of Polarized Electrons

We report our work in developing new turn-key sources of polarized electrons. These sources operate by extracting the electrons from a discharge and polarizing them through optical pumping. Preliminary work demonstrates that beams of 4 μA with greater than 20% polarization are possible. Such devices could enormously simplify the running of many experiments in the fields of atomic structure, magnetic materials and biophysics