The design and operation of a simple inline optical electron polarimeter is presented. It is based on exchange excitation of ground state neon atoms. The electron polarization is determined from the degree of circular polarization of the subsequent 2p 5 3 p 3 D 3 →2 p 5 3s 3 P 2 ͑6402 Å͒ fluorescence. This device can characterize both longitudinally and transversely polarized electron beams in a nondestructive fashion, and is inexpensive and easily constructed.

cw laser operation has been achieved from a diode-pumped Nd:LuAlO3 crystal for the first time. The tuning characteristics centered about 1083 nm are presented and the laser’s use for 3He and 4He optical pumping are established. With 1.5 W of output at 1083 nm and a slope efficiency greater than 22%, this crystal represents the first viable alternative to Nd:LMA.