We report on the characterization of silica aerogel thermal optical nonlinearity, obtained by z-scan technique. The results show that typical silica aerogels have nonlinear optical coefficient similar to that of glass $(simeq 10^{-12} $m$^2/$W), with negligible optical nonlinear absorption. The non-li-near coefficient can be increased to values in the range of $10^{-10} $m$^2/$W by embedding an absorbing dye in the aerogel. This value is one order of magnitude higher than that observed in the pure dye and in typical highly nonlinear materials like liquid crystals.
Emission of muonium ($mu^{+}e^{-}$) atoms from silica aerogel into vacuum was observed. Characteristics of muonium emission were established from silica aerogel samples with densities in the range from 29 mg cm$^{-3}$ to 178 mg cm$^{-3}$. Spectra of muonium decay times correlated with distances from the aerogel surfaces, which are sensitive to the speed distributions, follow general features expected from a diffusion process, while small deviations from a simple room-temperature thermal diffusion model are identified. The parameters of the diffusion process are deduced from the observed yields.
The emission of muonium ($mu^+e^-$) atoms into vacuum from silica aerogel with laser ablation on its surface was studied with various ablation structures at room temperature using the subsurface muon beams at TRIUMF and Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC). Laser ablation was applied to produce holes or grooves with typical dimensions of a few hundred $mu$m to a few mm, except for some extreme conditions. The measured emission rate tends to be higher for larger fractions of ablation opening and for shallower depths. More than a few ablation structures reach the emission rates similar to the highest achieved in the past measurements. The emission rate is found to be stable at least for a couple of days. Measurements of spin precession amplitudes for the produced muonium atoms and remaining muons in a magnetic field determine a muonium formation fraction of $(65.5 pm 1.8)$%. The precession of the polarized muonium atoms is also observed clearly in vacuum. A projection of the emission rates measured at TRIUMF to the corresponding rates at J-PARC is demonstrated taking the different beam condition into account reasonably.
We report on orientation of the order parameter in the 3He-A and 3He-B phases caused by aerogel anisotropy. In 3He-A we have observed relatively homogeneous NMR line with an anomalously large negative frequency shift. We can attribute this effect to an orientation of orbital momentum along the axis of density anisotropy. The similar orientation effect we have seen in 3He-B. We can measure the A-phase Leggett frequency, which shows the same energy gap suppression as in the B-phase. We observe a correlation of A - B transition temperature and NMR frequency shift.
At the present work we propose a new method for studying the processes of thermodynamic equilibrium setting in the adsorbed 3He film in a porous media. By this method we have studied the thermalization of the adsorbed 3He on the silica aerogel surface at the temperature 1.5 K. The process of the thermodynamic equilibrium setting was controlled by measuring of the pressure in the experimental cell, the amplitude of the NMR signal and the time of the nuclear spin-spin and spin-lattice relaxation times of an adsorbed 3He. The thermodynamic equilibrium setting in the system adsorbed helium-3 - aerogel has the characteristic time 26 min.
Emission of muonium ($mu^+e^-$) atoms from a laser-processed aerogel surface into vacuum was studied for the first time. Laser ablation was used to create hole-like regions with diameter of about 270$~mu$m in a triangular pattern with hole separation in the range of 300--500$~mu$m. The emission probability for the laser-processed aerogel sample is at least eight times higher than for a uniform one.