Polarized $^3$He Target in High Magnetic Field at CLAS12

A nuclear spin polarized $^3$He target has been successfully used for decades to measure spin-dependent electron scattering from the neutron. In addition, the $^3$He nucleus has a rich spin structure that is complementary to that of the deuteron and can be calculated with high precision. Polarized $^3$He targets in low magnetic fields have been well developed using the spin exchange optical pumping technique. However, the application of a polarized $^3$He target in a high-magnetic-field environment is limited due to the increased wall relaxation. Taking advantage of recent improvements in high-field metastability exchange optical pumping, a novel double-cell cryogenic target has been designed to accommodate to the 5-T solenoid in Hall B at Jefferson Lab for a proposed experiment of spin-dependent electron scattering from a polarized $^3$He target at CLAS12. In this talk, we will present the results from the low-field (30 Gauss) tests. In addition, we will present the path toward the high-field tests with preliminary results.