  We report the production of highly spin-polarized Deuterium atoms via
photodissociation of deuterium iodide at 270 nm. The velocity distribution of
both the deuterium and iodine photodissociation products is performed via
velocity mapping slice-imaging. Additionally, the angular momentum polarization
of the iodine products is studied using polarization-sensitive ionization
schemes. The results are consistent with excitation of the $A^1\Pi_1$ state
followed by adiabatic dissociation. The process produces $\sim$100\%
electronically polarized deuterium atoms at the time of dissociation, which is
then converted to $\sim 60\%$ nuclear D polarization after $\sim 1.6$ ns. These
production times for hyperpolarized deuterium allow collision-limited densities
of $\sim 10^{18}$ cm$^{-3}$, which is $\sim 10^6$ times higher than
conventional (Stern-Gerlach separation) methods. We discuss how such
high-density hyperpolarized deuterium atoms can be combined with laser fusion
to measure polarized D-D fusion cross sections.
