A statically polarized solid 3He Target

We describe the construction and operation of a large (0.4 mole) solid 3He target polarized to 37% by the ‘‘brute force’’ technique at 12 mK in a 7 Tesla magnetic field. The target has been employed at the Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory to study by neutron transmission measurements the excited states of the 4He nucleus. Such a target has particular advantages for experiments using neutrons or other beams which produce little target heating.