Spin physics with laser-pumped helium atoms

With the development of new, tunable lasers at 1083 nm, direct optical pumping of the triplet metastable atoms of helium yields an almost perfectly aligned ensemble. In 3He the hyperflne interaction and collisions transfer the orientation to the groundstate nuclear spins. The optical pumping process in 3He is extraordinarily efficient- nearly 2.5 nuclei are oriented per absorbed photon at turn-on. Applications to magnetometry, the production of spin-polarized electron and ion beams, and the development of polarized neutron beams and dense targets will be discussed. The progress of the UNI-Mainz experiment to measure the electric and magnetic form factors of the neutron will be described. In this experiment the polarized 3He target is mechanically compressed to several atmospheres with minimal loss of nuclear polarization. Extension of this dense nuclear target for use as a neutron spin filter is also in progress. We will also describe the status of our experiment to observe scattering asymmetries of polarized electrons by chiral molecules. Progress on the development of a compact, moderate current, polarized e-beam will be discussed