The A-B transition in superfluid helium-3 under confinement in a thin slab geometry

N. Zhelev, T. S. Abhilash, E. N. Smith, R. G. Bennett, X. Rojas, L. Levitin, J. Saunders and J. M. Parpia ()
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N. Zhelev: Cornell University
T. S. Abhilash: Cornell University
E. N. Smith: Cornell University
R. G. Bennett: Cornell University
X. Rojas: Royal Holloway University of London
L. Levitin: Royal Holloway University of London
J. Saunders: Royal Holloway University of London
J. M. Parpia: Cornell University

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract The influence of confinement on the phases of superfluid helium-3 is studied using the torsional pendulum method. We focus on the transition between the A and B phases, where the A phase is stabilized by confinement and a spatially modulated stripe phase is predicted at the A–B phase boundary. Here we discuss results from superfluid helium-3 contained in a single 1.08-μm-thick nanofluidic cavity incorporated into a high-precision torsion pendulum, and map the phase diagram between 0.1 and 5.6 bar. We observe only small supercooling of the A phase, in comparison to bulk or when confined in aerogel, with evidence for a non-monotonic pressure dependence. This suggests that an intrinsic B-phase nucleation mechanism operates under confinement. Both the phase diagram and the relative superfluid fraction of the A and B phases, show that strong coupling is present at all pressures, with implications for the stability of the stripe phase.

Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms15963

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