Spin-polarized atoms have applications in many areas, including biological magnetic resonance imaging, optical magnetometry, atomic clocks, and fundamental symmetry studies. Polarized atoms are often held in a container, most commonly a glass cell. Their interactions with the walls of the container during their collisions with the walls are often the main cause of spin relaxation, which determines the ultimate attainable polarization, and frequency shift, which affects the long-term frequency stability in atomic clocks. A critical review of studies of wall interactions of spin-polarized atoms done in the past six decades is presented, including the hydrogen atom, alkali metal atoms, and diamagnetic atoms with ${}^1{S}_0$ ground states such as mercury, cadmium, and noble gas atoms. The review summarizes the progress that has been made in understanding the nature of wall interactions and the physical mechanisms of spin relaxation and frequency shift due to wall collisions. It also points out those issues, particularly in connection with the widely used antirelaxation coatings, that are not yet understood.

中文翻译：

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自旋极化原子的壁面相互作用

自旋极化原子在许多领域都有应用，包括生物磁共振成像、光学磁力测量、原子钟和基本对称性研究。极化原子通常保存在容器中，最常见的是玻璃池。它们在与壁碰撞期间与容器壁的相互作用通常是自旋弛豫的主要原因，这决定了最终可达到的极化和频移，这会影响原子钟的长期频率稳定性。对过去六十年来对自旋极化原子壁相互作用的研究进行了批判性回顾，包括氢原子、碱金属原子和抗磁性原子${}^1{秒}_0$基态，如汞、镉和惰性气体原子。该评论总结了在理解壁相互作用的性质以及壁碰撞引起的自旋弛豫和频移的物理机制方面取得的进展。它还指出了那些尚未了解的问题，特别是与广泛使用的抗松弛涂层有关的问题。