Radiation Damage in Polarized Ammonia Solids

Solid NH3 and ND3 provide a highly polarizable, radiation resistant source of polarized protons and deuterons and have been used extensively in high luminosity experiments investigating the spin structure of the nucleon. Over the past twenty years, the UVA polarized target group has been instrumental in producing and polarizing much of the material used in these studies, and many practical considerations have been learned in this time. In this discussion, we analyze the polarization performance of the solid ammonia targets used during the recent JLab Eg4 run. Topics include the rate of polarization decay with accumulated charge, the annealing procedure for radiation damaged targets to recover polarization, and the radiation induced change in optimum microwave frequency used to polarize the sample. We also discuss the success we have had in implementing frequency modulation of the polarizing microwave frequency.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures. XIIth International Workshop on Polarized Sources, Targets and Polarimetr

Absolute polarimetry at RHIC

Precise and absolute beam polarization measurements are critical for the RHIC spin physics program. Because all experimental spin-dependent results are normalized by beam polarization, the normalization uncertainty contributes directly to final physics uncertainties. We aimed to perform the beam polarization measurement to an accuracy of $\Delta P_{beam}/P_{beam} < 5$. The absolute polarimeter consists of Polarized Atomic Hydrogen Gas Jet Target and left-right pairs of silicon strip detectors and was installed in the RHIC-ring in 2004. This system features \textit{proton-proton} elastic scattering in the Coulomb nuclear interference (CNI) region. Precise measurements of the analyzing power $A_N$ of this process has allowed us to achieve $\Delta P_{beam}/P_{beam} =4.2$ in 2005 for the first long spin-physics run. In this report, we describe the entire set up and performance of the system. The procedure of beam polarization measurement and analysis results from 2004-2005 are described. Physics topics of $A_N$ in the CNI region (four-momentum transfer squared $0.001 < -t < 0.032 ~ ({\rm GeV}/c)^2$) are also discussed. We point out the current issues and expected optimum accuracy in 2006 and the future.Comment: 10 pages, PSTP07 proceedings contributio