Description of an Atomic-Beam Sampling Polarimeter

A polarimeter for thermal atomic hydrogen and deuterium beams is presented. The polarimeter is designed to have an accuracy of 3% for the determination of both electron and nuclear polarisation. The measurements are done by exchanging certain hyperfine states by means of high frequency transitions. The beam is then guided through a sextupole system which serves as a filter for atoms with a positive electron spin projection. The beam intensity is measured with lock-in-technique by using a quadrupol mass spectrometer for the detection of the chopped atomic beam.