University of Nebraska

Benjamin B Birdsey

Brooks A Hitt

Timothy J Gay

Hermanus Batelaan

Disclosed are a system, and method, for producing a directly extracted flow of preferred-spin-polarization-direction electrons. The present invention optically pumped electron spin filter system provides a mixture of, typically alkali, atoms and electron polarization direction enhancing buffer gas, to a, preferably, single chamber essentially enclosed space, into which essentially enclosed space is entered a predominately single handedness, preferably laser system produced, beam of photons which optically pumps electrons in atoms to a dark-ground state with a preferred-spin-polarization, that is maintained in the presence of an imposed magnetic field, which magnetic field is oriented essentially co-linear with said beam of predominately single polarized photons. Concurrently electrons are, by practice of the method of the present invention, generated in the essentially enclosed space by a buffer gas mediated electric discharge, and are caused to be in a preferred-spin-polarization-direction via pumped dark-ground state atom&mdash;electron collision mediated exchange mechanism(s), prior to being directly extracted.

Growing community of inventors

Lincoln, NE, United States of America

Benjamin B Birdsey