Optical pumping of ground-state and metastable atoms and ions is reviewed. We present a
critical survey of the literature on pumping mechanisms, light propagation, relaxation …

Spin-exchange optical pumping of mixtures of alkali-metal vapors and noble gases can be
used to efficiently polarize the nuclei of the noble-gas atoms. Liters of noble gases at …

The theory of spin exchange between optically pumped alkali-metal atoms and noble-gas
nuclei is presented. Spin exchange with heavy noble gases is dominated by interactions in …

Real and virtual absorption of weak monochromatic light is analyzed with semiclassical
radiation theory. The influence of the light on the atoms is described by an effective ground …

As currently implemented, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) relies on the protons of water
molecules in tissue to provide the NMR signal. Protons are, however, notoriously difficult to …

It was recently discovered that when there are sufficiently rapid spin-exchange collisions in
an alkali-metal vapor, the rf magnetic-resonance frequency of the ground-state atoms …

Covering the most important knowledge on optical pumping of atoms, this ready reference is
backed by numerous examples of modelling computation for optical pumped systems. The …

We have developed a theory for the effect of magnetic-field inhomogeneities on the spin
relaxation of gases in cells with negligible relaxation at the walls. There is a characteristic …

We present a comprehensive theory of nuclear spin polarization of 3 He and 129 Xe gases
by spin-exchange collisions with optically pumped alkali-metal vapors. The most important …

A method is described for producing several liters of nuclear spin polarized 129Xe gas via
spin exchange with an optically pumped Rb vapor. We use a 140 W AlGaAs laser diode …