Zur Bestimmung der Spin-Polarisation aus Transparenz-Messungen beim Optischen Pumpen.

A simple method of measuring the degree of polarization achieved by optical pumping has been described recently for the case of sodium vapor, illuminated with the single circularly polarized D line. The assumption had to be made, however, that the atomic absorption cross section Q, depending on the degree of polarization P and the frequency of light ν, may be approximated by Q( P, ν)=(1− P)· Q( P=O, ν). The purpose of this paper is to discuss the qualification of this assumption. A theoretical analysis of the pumping process is tried, showing that the measured polarization corresponds in good approximation to the degree of the valence electron spin polarization. - For the case of weak absorption and equal intensity of the two hyperfine components of the D line a diagramm is given, relating the measured polarization to the polarization of the nuclear spin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]