Thermal compression of two-dimensional atomic hydrogen to quantum degeneracy

We describe experiments where 2D atomic hydrogen gas is compressed thermally at a small "cold spot" on the surface of superfluid helium and detected directly with electron-spin resonance. We reach surface densities up to 5e12 1/cm^2 at temperatures of approximately 100 mK corresponding to the maximum 2D phase-space density of about 1.5. By independent measurements of the surface density and its decay rate we make the first direct determination of the three-body recombination rate constant and get the value of 2e-25 cm^4/s for its upper bound, which is an order of magnitude smaller than previously reported experimental results.Comment: 4 pages, 4 postscript figures, bibliography (.bbl) file, submitted to PR

Adsorption and two-body recombination of atomic hydrogen on 3^3He-4^4He mixture films

We present the first systematic measurement of the binding energy $E_a$ of hydrogen atoms to the surface of saturated $^3$He-$^4$He mixture films. $E_a$ is found to decrease almost linearly from 1.14(1) K down to 0.39(1) K, when the population of the ground surface state of $^3$He grows from zero to $6\times10^{14}$ cm$^{-2}$, yielding the value $1.2(1)\times 10^{-15}$ K cm$^2$ for the mean-field parameter of H-$^3$He interaction in 2D. The experiments were carried out with overall $^3$He concentrations ranging from 0.1 ppm to 5 % as well as with commercial and isotopically purified $^4$He at temperatures 70...400 mK. Measuring by ESR the rate constants $K_{aa}$ and $K_{ab}$ for second-order recombination of hydrogen atoms in hyperfine states $a$ and $b$ we find the ratio $K_{ab}/K_{aa}$ to be independent of the $^3$He content and to grow with temperature.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, all zipped in a sigle file. Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Atomic Deuterium Adsorbed on the Surface of Liquid Helium

We investigate deuterium atoms adsorbed on the surface of liquid helium in equilibrium with a vapor of atoms of the same species. These atoms are studied by a sensitive optical method based on spectroscopy at a wavelength of 122 nm, exciting the 1S-2P transition. We present a direct measurement of the adsorption energy of deuterium atoms on helium and show evidence for the existence of resonantly enhanced recombination of atoms residing on the surface to molecules.Comment: 6 pages 4 figure

Itinerant-Electron Magnet of the Pyrochlore Lattice: Indium-Doped YMn2Zn20

We report on a ternary intermetallic compound, "YMn2Zn20", comprising a pyrochlore lattice made of Mn atoms. A series of In-doped single crystals undergo no magnetic long-range order down to 0.4 K, in spite of the fact that the Mn atom carries a local magnetic moment at high temperatures, showing Curie-Weiss magnetism. However, In-rich crystals exhibit spin-glass transitions at approximately 10 K due to a disorder arising from the substitution, while, with decreasing In content, the spin-glass transition temperature is reduced to 1 K. Then, heat capacity divided by temperature approaches a large value of 280 mJ K-2 mol-1, suggesting a significantly large mass enhancement for conduction electrons. This heavy-fermion-like behavior is not induced by the Kondo effect as in ordinary f-electron compounds, but by an alternative mechanism related to the geometrical frustration on the pyrochlore lattice, as in (Y,Sc)Mn2 and LiV2O4, which may allow spin entropy to survive down to low temperatures and to couple with conduction electrons.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, J. Phys. Soc. Jpn., in pres

Thermal compression of atomic hydrogen on helium surface

We describe experiments with spin-polarized atomic hydrogen gas adsorbed on liquid $^{4}$He surface. The surface gas density is increased locally by thermal compression up to $5.5\times10^{12}$ cm$^{-2}$ at 110 mK. This corresponds to the onset of quantum degeneracy with the thermal de-Broglie wavelength being 1.5 times larger than the mean interatomic spacing. The atoms were detected directly with a 129 GHz electron-spin resonance spectrometer probing both the surface and the bulk gas. This, and the simultaneous measurement of the recombination power, allowed us to make accurate studies of the adsorption isotherm and the heat removal from the adsorbed hydrogen gas. From the data, we estimate the thermal contact between 2D hydrogen gas and phonons of the helium film. We analyze the limitations of the thermal compression method and the possibility to reach the superfluid transition in 2D hydrogen gas.Comment: 20 pages, 11 figure

Mass-Enhanced Fermi Liquid Ground State in Na1.5_{1.5}Co2_2O4_4

Magnetic, transport, and specific heat measurements have been performed on layered metallic oxide Na$_{1.5}$Co$_2$O$_4$ as a function of temperature $T$. Below a characteristic temperature $T^*$=30$-$40 K, electrical resistivity shows a metallic conductivity with a $T^2$ behavior and magnetic susceptibility deviates from the Curie-Weiss behavior showing a broad peak at $\sim$14 K. The electronic specific heat coefficient $\gamma$ is $\sim$60 mJ/molK$^2$ at 2 K. No evidence for magnetic ordering is found. These behaviors suggest the formation of mass-enhanced Fermi liquid ground state analogous to that in $d$-electron heavy fermion compound LiV$_2$O$_4$.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev. B 69 (2004