Polarized fusion

Since more than 50 years it has been discussed to increase the gain of nuclear fusion reactors with the use of polarized fuel. For example, the total cross sections of the fusion reactions d + t → ⁴He + n or ³He + d → ⁴He + p are increased by a factor of about 1.5 if the spins of both incoming particles are aligned. But before polarized fuel can be used for energy production in the different types of reactors, a number of questions must be answered. In this contribution we give an overview on our various activities in this field of research.