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Physical Review A

High-field negative-ion persistence currents in superfluid helium

Roger E. Little, Yu Liu

Published Jan 1, 1974• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The behavior of negative ions in superfluid helium at high electric fields has been investigated. It is concluded that at sufficiently high fields the negative-ion complex is not an electron trapped on a circular, singly quantized vortex ring. The size of the complex is measured and found to be about 35 \ensuremath{\mu}m. The ion complex is observed to break up at very high fields.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.9.460

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•Mar 5, 1977•0 citations
The behavior of negative ions in superfluid helium at high electric fields has been investigated. It is concluded that at sufficiently high fields the negative-ion complex is not an electron trapped on a circular, singly quantized vortex ring. The size of the complex is measured and found to be about 35 \ensuremath{\mu}m. The ion complex is observed to break up at very high fields.
The mobility of negative ions trapped on linear vortices in rotating superfluid helium has been measured by a time-of-flight technique in the temperature range $0.8\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}\mathrm{K}<T<1.6\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}\mathrm{K}$. Measurements could not be extended below 0.8\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K because, contrary to the present theory, the ion escape rate became too large. No evidence of direct trapping of positive ions by vortex lines was observed down to 0.4\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K. The trapped-ion mobility is interpreted in terms of scattering of the ion by thermal distributions of quantized vortex waves and rotons localized about the vortex axis.
Negative-ion trapping has been investigated in rotating liquid helium at temperatures above 1.2\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K. We report measurements of the ion-capture width versus temperature and electric field (from 5 to 100 V/cm). The theory of the effect is reviewed and discussed and is shown to be in excellent agreement with experiment. Owing mainly to the insensitivity, at low ratios of electric field to temperature, of the capture width to the properties of the ion-vortex potential well, we are able to deduce only that the well must be larger than the ionic mean free path.
The interaction between negative ions and 3 He superfluids was studied by using a time-of-flight spectrometer having a 10−3 relative resolution. The ions guided through a sample of rotating3He-A were found to be focused into the cores of the vortices present in this rotating superfluid. Two different types, with different core structures and presumably different numbers of circulation quanta associated with them, were found. The ion mobility along the vortex cores, μ c , observed in the absence of external magnetic field, can be explained by the mobility anisotropy of the A phase, which indicates that the vortices are continuous, i.e., consist of the A phase even in the core. In finite magnetic fields, a qualitatively similar continuous vortex structure was found, a result compatible with the earlier nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiments, but also a new vortex type with an anomalously high μ c was seen when the vortex sample was prepared “adiabatically.” The observed strong ion focusing indicates broken w-symmetry in the core textures. This is in contradiction with the earlier numerical calculations on the optimal continuous vortex texture. Experiments to observe trapping of ions into the vortex cores were performed both in A and B phases. No trapping could be detected. Mobility measurements in stationary liquid were extended down toT=0.3T c . Comparison with the calculated transport coefficients yieldsΔ A (T)=1.32Δ BCS (T) for the maximal A phase gap atP=29.3 bar, andΔ B (T)=1.12Δ BCS (T) for the B phase gap at 4.8 bar. In the normal Fermi liquid a shallow minimum of ion mobility was detected aroundT≃2T c =5 mK.