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

A nuclear spin polarized $^3$He target has proven a successful effective polarized neutron target in spin-dependent measurements of electron scattering from the neutron. 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, the target design and recent progress in the target development will be presented.