22 research outputs found
Low frequency acoustics in solid He at low temperature
The elastic properties of hcp He samples have been investigated using low
frequency (20 Hz to 20 kHz) high sensitivity sound transducers. In agreement
with the findings of other workers, most samples studied grew very
significantly stiffer at low temperature; Poisson's ratio was observed to
increase from 0.28 below 20 mK to at 0.7 K. The span of the
variation of varies from sample to sample according to their thermal and
mechanical history. Crystals carefully grown at the melting curve show a
different behavior, the change in taking place at lower and being
more abrupt
Non-Classical Response from Quench-Cooled Solid Helium Confined in Porous Gold
We have investigated the non-classical response of solid 4He confined in
porous gold set to torsional oscillation. When solid helium is grown rapidly,
nearly 7% of the solid helium appears to be decoupled from the oscillation
below about 200 mK. Dissipation appears at temperatures where the decoupling
shows maximum variation. In contrast, the decoupling is substantially reduced
in slowly grown solid helium. The dynamic response of solid helium was also
studied by imposing a sudden increase in the amplitude of oscillation. Extended
relaxation in the resonant period shift, suggesting the emergence of the
pinning of low energy excitations, was observed below the onset temperature of
the non-classical response. The motion of a dislocation or a glassy solid is
restricted in the entangled narrow pores and is not likely responsible for the
period shift and long relaxation
Annealing Effect for Supersolid Fraction in He
We report on experimental confirmation of the non-classical rotational
inertia (NCRI) in solid helium samples originally reported by Kim and Chan. The
onset of NCRI was observed at temperatures below ~400 mK. The ac velocity for
initiation of the NCRI suppression is estimated to be ~10 m/sec. After an
additional annealing of the sample at K for 12 hours, ~ 10% relative
increase of NCRI fraction was observed. Then after repeated annealing with the
same conditions, the NCRI fraction was saturated. It differs from Reppy's
observation on a low pressure solid sample.Comment: to be published in J. of Low Temp. Phys. (QFS2006 proceedings
BCC vs. HCP - The Effect of Crystal Symmetry on the High Temperature Mobility of Solid He
We report results of torsional oscillator (TO) experiments on solid He at
temperatures above 1K. We have previously found that single crystals, once
disordered, show some mobility (decoupled mass) even at these rather high
temperatures. The decoupled mass fraction with single crystals is typically 20-
30%. In the present work we performed similar measurements on polycrystalline
solid samples. The decoupled mass with polycrystals is much smaller, 1%,
similar to what is observed by other groups. In particular, we compared the
properties of samples grown with the TO's rotation axis at different
orientations with respect to gravity. We found that the decoupled mass fraction
of bcc samples is independent of the angle between the rotation axis and
gravity. In contrast, hcp samples showed a significant difference in the
fraction of decoupled mass as the angle between the rotation axis and gravity
was varied between zero and 85 degrees. Dislocation dynamics in the solid
offers one possible explanation of this anisotropy.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, to appear in Journal of Low Temperature Physics
- special issue on Supersolidit
On The Mobile Behavior of Solid He at High Temperatures
We report studies of solid helium contained inside a torsional oscillator, at
temperatures between 1.07K and 1.87K. We grew single crystals inside the
oscillator using commercially pure He and He-He mixtures containing
100 ppm He. Crystals were grown at constant temperature and pressure on the
melting curve. At the end of the growth, the crystals were disordered,
following which they partially decoupled from the oscillator. The fraction of
the decoupled He mass was temperature and velocity dependent. Around 1K, the
decoupled mass fraction for crystals grown from the mixture reached a limiting
value of around 35%. In the case of crystals grown using commercially pure
He at temperatures below 1.3K, this fraction was much smaller. This
difference could possibly be associated with the roughening transition at the
solid-liquid interface.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figure
The glassy response of solid He-4 to torsional oscillations
We calculated the glassy response of solid He-4 to torsional oscillations
assuming a phenomenological glass model. Making only a few assumptions about
the distribution of glassy relaxation times in a small subsystem of otherwise
rigid solid He-4, we can account for the magnitude of the observed period shift
and concomitant dissipation peak in several torsion oscillator experiments. The
implications of the glass model for solid He-4 are threefold: (1) The dynamics
of solid He-4 is governed by glassy relaxation processes. (2) The distribution
of relaxation times varies significantly between different torsion oscillator
experiments. (3) The mechanical response of a torsion oscillator does not
require a supersolid component to account for the observed anomaly at low
temperatures, though we cannot rule out its existence.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, presented at QFS200
A glassy contribution to the heat capacity of hcp He solids
We model the low-temperature specific heat of solid He in the hexagonal
closed packed structure by invoking two-level tunneling states in addition to
the usual phonon contribution of a Debye crystal for temperatures far below the
Debye temperature, . By introducing a cutoff energy in the
two-level tunneling density of states, we can describe the excess specific heat
observed in solid hcp He, as well as the low-temperature linear term in the
specific heat. Agreement is found with recent measurements of the temperature
behavior of both specific heat and pressure. These results suggest the presence
of a very small fraction, at the parts-per-million (ppm) level, of two-level
tunneling systems in solid He, irrespective of the existence of
supersolidity.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure
Defects and glassy dynamics in solid He-4: Perspectives and current status
We review the anomalous behavior of solid He-4 at low temperatures with
particular attention to the role of structural defects present in solid. The
discussion centers around the possible role of two level systems and structural
glassy components for inducing the observed anomalies. We propose that the
origin of glassy behavior is due to the dynamics of defects like dislocations
formed in He-4. Within the developed framework of glassy components in a solid,
we give a summary of the results and predictions for the effects that cover the
mechanical, thermodynamic, viscoelastic, and electro-elastic contributions of
the glassy response of solid He-4. Our proposed glass model for solid He-4 has
several implications: (1) The anomalous properties of He-4 can be accounted for
by allowing defects to freeze out at lowest temperatures. The dynamics of solid
He-4 is governed by glasslike (glassy) relaxation processes and the
distribution of relaxation times varies significantly between different
torsional oscillator, shear modulus, and dielectric function experiments. (2)
Any defect freeze-out will be accompanied by thermodynamic signatures
consistent with entropy contributions from defects. It follows that such
entropy contribution is much smaller than the required superfluid fraction, yet
it is sufficient to account for excess entropy at lowest temperatures. (3) We
predict a Cole-Cole type relation between the real and imaginary part of the
response functions for rotational and planar shear that is occurring due to the
dynamics of defects. Similar results apply for other response functions. (4)
Using the framework of glassy dynamics, we predict low-frequency yet to be
measured electro-elastic features in defect rich He-4 crystals. These
predictions allow one to directly test the ideas and very presence of glassy
contributions in He-4.Comment: 33 pages, 13 figure
Zero-point vacancies in quantum solids
A Jastrow wave function (JWF) and a shadow wave function (SWF) describe a
quantum solid with Bose--Einstein condensate; i.e. a supersolid. It is known
that both JWF and SWF describe a quantum solid with also a finite equilibrium
concentration of vacancies x_v. We outline a route for estimating x_v by
exploiting the existing formal equivalence between the absolute square of the
ground state wave function and the Boltzmann weight of a classical solid. We
compute x_v for the quantum solids described by JWF and SWF employing very
accurate numerical techniques. For JWF we find a very small value for the zero
point vacancy concentration, x_v=(1.4\pm0.1) x 10^-6. For SWF, which presently
gives the best variational description of solid 4He, we find the significantly
larger value x_v=(1.4\pm0.1) x 10^-3 at a density close to melting. We also
study two and three vacancies. We find that there is a strong short range
attraction but the vacancies do not form a bound state.Comment: 19 pages, submitted to J. Low Temp. Phy