No Arabic abstract
By using the diffusion Monte Carlo method, we obtained the full phase diagram of $^3$He on top of graphite preplated with a solid layer of $^4$He. All the $^4$He atoms of the substrate were explicitly considered and allowed to move during the simulation. We found that the ground state is a liquid of density 0.007 $pm$ 0.001 AA$^{-2}$, in good agreement with available experimental data. This is significantly different from the case of $^3$He on clean graphite, in which both theory and experiment agree on the existence of a gas-liquid transition at low densities. Upon an increase in $^3$He density, we predict a first-order phase transition between a dense liquid and a registered 7/12 phase, the 4/7 phase being found metastable in our calculations. At larger second-layer densities, a final transition is produced to an incommensurate triangular phase.
Surface waves on both superfluid 3He and 4He were examined with the premise, that these inviscid media would represent ideal realizations for this fluid dynamics problem. The work on 3He is one of the first of its kind, but on 4He it was possible to produce much more complete set of data for meaningful comparison with theoretical models. Most measurements were performed at the zero temperature limit, meaning T < 100 mK for 4He and T ~ 100 {mu}K for 3He. Dozens of surface wave resonances, including up to 11 overtones, were observed and monitored as the liquid depth in the cell was varied. Despite of the wealth of data, perfect agreement with the constructed theoretical models could not be achieved.
Using quantum Monte Carlo we have studied the superfluid density of the first layer of $^4$He and H$_2$ adsorbed on graphene and graphite. Our main focus has been on the equilibrium ground state of the system, which corresponds to a registered $sqrt3 times sqrt3$ phase. The perfect solid phase of H$_2$ shows no superfluid signal whereas $^4$He has a finite but small superfluid fraction (0.67%). The introduction of vacancies in the crystal makes the superfluidity increase, showing values as large as 14% in $^4$He without destroying the spatial solid order.
A resonance-induced change in the resistivity of the surface state electrons (SSE) exposed to the microwave (MW) radiation is observed. The MW frequency corresponds to the transition energy between two lowest Rydberg energy levels. All measurements are done with electrons over liquid 3He in a temperature range 0.45-0.65 K, in which the electron relaxation time and the MW absorption linewidth are determined by collisions with helium vapor atoms. The input MW power is varied by two orders of magnitude, and the resistivity is always found to increase. This effect is attributed to the heating of electrons with the resonance MW radiation. The temperature and the momentum relaxation rate of the hot electrons are calculated as a function of the MW power in the cell, and the Rabi frequency is determined from the comparison of the theoretical result with the experiment. In addition, the broadening of the absorption signal caused by the heating is studied experimentally, and the results are found to be in good agreement with our calculations.
Spin-spin relaxation time ($T_2$) and magnetic susceptibility ($chi$) of the second layer $^3$He adsorbed on Grafoil, exfoliated graphite, preplated with a monolayer $^4$He are studied by pulsed-NMR in a density range of $0.68 leq rho leq 5.28$ nm$^{-2}$. The temperature dependence of $chi(T)$ and $chi(T = 0)$ show Fermi fluid behaviour and no evidence of self-condensation are found even at the lowest density $rho = 0.68$ nm$^{-2}$. Density dependence of $T_2$ at $f = 5.5$ MHz shows a broad maximum of 5.7 ms around $rho = 3$ nm$^{-2}$. Since the decrease of $T_2$ in dilute side can not be expected in the ideal 2D fluid, it can be understood as the relaxation caused by a small amount of solid $^3$He at heterogeneity of the substrate. We also measured the Larmor frequency dependence of $T_2$ at $rho = 5.28$ nm$^{-2}$. $1/T_2$ has a $f$-linear dependence similarly to the earlier study on a first layer solid $^3$He. From a comparison between our result and the earlier one, this linearity is almost independent of the particle motion. Now, it could be caused by a microscopic magnetic field inhomogeneity arisen from the mosaic angle spread and diamagnetism of the graphite substrate.
We revisited the phase diagram of the second layer of 4He on top of graphite using quantum Monte Carlo methods. Our aim was to explore the existence of the novel phases suggested recently in experimental works, and determine their properties and stability limits. We found evidence of a superfluid quantum phase with hexatic correlations, induced by the corrugation of the first Helium layer, and a quasi-two-dimensional supersolid corresponding to a 7/12 registered phase. The 4/7 commensurate solid was found to be unstable, while the triangular incommensurate crystals, stable at large densities, were normal.