title: Non-magnetic flexible heaters for spin-exchange optical pumping of3He and other applications.
abstract: Spin polarized3He gas is currently widely used in various scientific fields and in medical diagnosis applications. The spin polarization of3He nuclei can be achieved by spin-exchange optical pumping (SEOP). In SEOP, the3He gas is enclosed in a glass cell together with alkali metals and is then heated to maintain the alkali metal vapor pressures at the appropriate levels. However, polarized3He gas is highly sensitive to any inhomogeneity in its magnetic field, and any small field gradients caused by the heaters may cause degradation of the3He polarization. To overcome this conflict between the heating process and the magnetic field, we have developed electrical heaters that essentially cause no magnetic fields. These heaters are thin and are flexible enough to be bent to within a radius of a few centimeters. These carefully designed heater elements and a double layer structure effectively eliminate magnetic field generation. The heaters were originally developed for SEOP applications, but can also be applied to other processes that need to avoid unwanted magnetic fields.
authors.affiliation: IMSS, KEK, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0801, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ino
authors.affiliation: CROSS, Tokai, Ibaraki 319-1106, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hayashida
authors.affiliation: CROSS, Tokai, Ibaraki 319-1106, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kira
authors.affiliation: J-PARC Center, Tokai, Ibaraki 319-1195, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Oku
authors.affiliation: J-PARC Center, Tokai, Ibaraki 319-1195, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sakai