High nuclear polarization of He3 at low and high pressure by metastability exchange optical pumping at 1.5 tesla

Metastability exchange optical pumping of helium-3 is performed in a strong magnetic field of 1.5 T. The achieved nuclear polarizations, between 80% at 1.33 mbar and 25% at 67 mbar, show a substantial improvement at high pressures with respect to standard low-field optical pumping. The specific mechanisms of metastability exchange optical pumping at high field are investigated, advantages and intrinsic limitations are discussed. From a practical point of view, these results open the way to alternative technological solutions for polarized helium-3 applications and in particular for magnetic-resonance imaging of human lungs. (authors)