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Measurements on the surface tension of He-3 crystals near 100 mK.

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  • Igor A. Todoshchenko
  • Harry Alles
  • Heikki J. Junes
  • Alexander Y. Parshin
  • Viktor Tsepelin
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<mark>Journal publication date</mark>02/2005
<mark>Journal</mark>Journal of Low Temperature Physics
Issue number3-4
Volume138
Number of pages6
Pages (from-to)811-816
Publication StatusPublished
<mark>Original language</mark>English

Abstract

He-3 crystals start to show facets on their surface only at about 100 mK, well below the roughening transition temperature, and the reason for this change of the surface state is not clear yet. However, the most important characteristic of the crystal surface, the surface tension, was not measured in this temperature range before. We report our observations on the equilibrium shape of the He-3 crystals in the temperature range of 77...110 mK. The surface tension was found to be isotropic and temperature-independent, and the corresponding value of the capillary length, lambda = 0.93 +/- 0.10 mm, is in a good agreement with the value measured at higher temperatures by Rolley et al.