How to produce nuclear-polarized hydrogen molecules and for what they can be used

In accelerator experiments polarized proton/deuteron beams and hydrogen/deuterium targets are an important tool to investigate the spin dependence of the nuclear forces. Both can be made with a polarized atomic beam source, a modern version of a Rabi apparatus. By recombination of these atoms hyper-polarized H2, D2 and HD molecules in many hyperfine substates are produced and can be used for further applications. For example, the recombination process itself and his dependence on the electron spin, surface materials or external radiation can be investigated as well as the coupling of the nuclear spins with the rotational magnetic moment. In nuclear physics the polarized molecules allow to increase the target density and with polarized molecular ions a better stripping injection into storage rings is possible. Further applications may be the use as polarized fuel for fusion reactors or the search for an electric dipole moment of the nucleons