Helium-3 for polarisation

On 23 January, we signed a contract with the Institut Laue Langevin (ILL) in Grenoble, France, for the provision of a state-of-the-art polarised ³He system, using the metastable-exchange optical pumping method. Cells using this technology to polarise and analyse neutron beams will eventually be implemented on a number of our instruments, including Pelican, Wombat, Platypus, Sika and Quokka. As part of the project, ANSTO personnel will be seconded to the ILL, during the construction of the system. Congratulations go particularly to Frank Klose for pushing this through, over the last year following the workshop in December 2007.