The lattice dynamics of solid 4He has been explored using pulsed NMR methods to study the motion of 3He impurities in the temperature range where experiments have revealed anomalies attributed to superflow or unexpected viscoelastic properties of the
solid 4He lattice. We report the results of measurements of the nuclear spin-lattice and spin-spin relaxation times that measure the fluctuation spectrum at high and low frequencies, respectively, of the 3He motion that results from quantum tunneling in the 4He matrix. The measurements were made for 3He concentrations 16<x_3<2000 ppm. For 3He concentrations x_3 = 16 ppm and 24 ppm, large changes are observed for both the spin-lattice relaxation time T_1 and the spin-spin relaxation time T_2 at temperatures close to those for which the anomalies are observed in measurements of torsional oscillator responses and the shear modulus. These changes in the NMR relaxation rates were not observed for higher 3He concentrations.
We report measurements of the nuclear spin-lattice and spin-spin relaxation times of very dilute 3He in solid 4He in the temperature range 0.01 leq T leq 0.5 K for densities where anomalies have been observed in torsional oscillator and shear modulus
measurements. We compare the results with the values of the relaxation times reported by other observers for higher concentrations and the theory of Landesman that takes into account the elastic properties of the 4He lattice. A sharp increase in the magnitude of the nuclear spin-lattice relaxation times compared to the the classical Landesman theory is observed close to the temperatures where the torsional and shear modulus anomalies are observed. The NMR results suggest that the tunneling of 3He impurities in the atomic-scale elastic distortion is affected by the same processes that give rise to the macroscopic elastic dissipation anomalies.
The dynamics of 3He atoms in solid 4He have been investigated by measuring the NMR relaxation times T1, T2 in the region where a significant non-classical rotational inertia fraction (NCRIF) has been reported. For 3He concentrations x3 = 16 ppm and 2
4 ppm, changes are observed for both the spin-lattice relaxation time T1 and the spin-spin relaxation time T2 at the temperatures corresponding to the onset of NCRIF and, at lower temperatures, to the 3He-4He phase separation. The magnitudes of T1 and T2 at temperatures above the phase separation agree roughly with existing theory based on the tunneling of 3He impurities in the elastic strain field due to isotopic mismatch. However, a distinct peak in T1 and a less well-resolved feature in T2 are observed near the reported NCRIF onset temperature, in contrast to the temperature-independent relaxation times predicted by the tunneling theory.
