Observation of a new superfluid phase for 3He embedded in nematically ordered aerogel

N. Zhelev, M. Reichl, T. S. Abhilash, E. N. Smith, K. X. Nguyen, E. J. Mueller and J. M. Parpia ()
Additional contact information
N. Zhelev: Cornell University
M. Reichl: Cornell University
T. S. Abhilash: Cornell University
E. N. Smith: Cornell University
K. X. Nguyen: School of Applied and Engineering Physics, Cornell University
E. J. Mueller: Cornell University
J. M. Parpia: Cornell University

Nature Communications, 2016, vol. 7, issue 1, 1-6

Abstract: Abstract In bulk superfluid 3He at zero magnetic field, two phases emerge with the B-phase stable everywhere except at high pressures and temperatures, where the A-phase is favoured. Aerogels with nanostructure smaller than the superfluid coherence length are the only means to introduce disorder into the superfluid. Here we use a torsion pendulum to study 3He confined in an extremely anisotropic, nematically ordered aerogel consisting of ∼10 nm-thick alumina strands, spaced by ∼100 nm, and aligned parallel to the pendulum axis. Kinks in the development of the superfluid fraction (at various pressures) as the temperature is varied correspond to phase transitions. Two such transitions are seen in the superfluid state, and we identify the superfluid phase closest to Tc at low pressure as the polar state, a phase that is not seen in bulk 3He.

Date: 2016
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms12975 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:7:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms12975

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/ncomms12975

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().