Gas dynamics in high-luminosity polarized 3He targets using diffusion and convection

Abstract

The dynamics of the movement of gas is discussed for two-chambered polarized 3He target cells of the sort that have been used successfully for many electron-scattering experiments. A detailed analysis is presented showing that diffusion is a limiting factor in target performance, particularly as these targets are run at increasingly high luminosities. Measurements are presented on a new prototype polarized 3He target cell in which the movement of gas is due largely to convection instead of diffusion. Nuclear magnetic resonance tagging techniques have been used to visualize the gas flow, showing velocities along a cylindrically shaped target of between 5 and 80 cm/min. The new target design addresses one of the principle obstacles to running polarized 3He targets at substantially higher luminosities while simultaneously providing new flexibility in target geometry.