The scanning Compton polarimeter for the SLD experiment

For the 1994/95 run of the SLD experiment at SLAC, a Compton polarimeter measured the luminosity-weighted electron beam polarization to be (77.2 {+-} 0.5)%. This excellent accuracy is achieved by measuring the rate asymmetry of Compton-scattered electrons near the kinematic endpoint. The polarimeter takes data continuously while the electron and positron beams are in collision and achieves a statistical precision of better than 1% in a three minute run. To calibrate the polarimeter and demonstrate its accuracy, many scans are frequently done. These include scans of the laser polarization, the detector position with respect to the kinematic edge, and the laser power