A possible observation of quantum nucleation in superfluid He sup 4 near crystallization

Journal Article · Wed Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1992 · Journal of Low Temperature Physics; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00122558· OSTI ID:6985813

Tsymbalenko, V L ^[1]

---

1. I. V. Kurchatov Inst. of Atomic Energy, Moscow (Russian Federation)

The overpressurization of superfluid He{sup 4} under crystallization is studied experimentally. The effect of a substrate and He{sup 3} impurities on the nucleation rate W is observed. The dependence of the metastable state lifetime versus the overpressurization and temperature is measured in the range 10{sup {minus}7}-1 s and 0.52-1.75 K. The results are compared with the theoretical predictions for the classic and quantum nucleation. The surface relief effect is considered. It is shown that relative to a flat surface, a cone-shaped pit is a site corresponding to a smaller nucleation energy. In this case a change of the nucleation rate versus the metastability degree and temperature in the classic region is analyzed. As a result, the most reliable qualitative manifestation of quantum nucleation is the independence of the metastable degree under the constant rate W upon temperature, which is observed below 1 K in the experiment.

• OSTI ID: 6985813
• Journal Information: Journal of Low Temperature Physics; (United States), Journal Name: Journal of Low Temperature Physics; (United States) Vol. 88:1-2; ISSN 0022-2291; ISSN JLTPA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

661100 -- Classical & Quantum Mechanics-- (1992-)
665420* -- Superfluidity-- (1992-)
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
CRYSTALLIZATION
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
HELIUM 3
HELIUM 4
HELIUM ISOTOPES
IMPURITIES
ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
MECHANICS
NUCLEATION
NUCLEI
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
QUANTUM MECHANICS
STABLE ISOTOPES
SUPERFLUIDITY