Distant Dipolar Fields in Laser Polarized Gases on Macroscopic Scales

P.P. ZÄNKER; J. SCHMIEDESKAMP; H.W. SPIESS; R. H. ACOSTA

PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS

AMER PHYSICAL SOC

Año: 2008 vol. 100 p. 2130011 - 2130014

0031-9007

Distant dipolar fields among nuclear spins on macroscopic scales in the gas phase are reported for the first time. Their observation via interatomic multiple quantum coherences requires high nuclear spin polarization corresponding to spin temperatures of a few mK, which is generated in laser polarized 3He, and proper control of the gas diffusion through a heavier buffer gas. This combination of physics at low and ambient temperatures opens up new ways of studying the relative translational diffusion of atoms and of gas diffusion in structures with a large range of length scales.