Surface texture in the A and B phases of superfluid He-3 probed by surface state electrons – Kimitoshi Kono

Date: Thu. January 11th, 2007, 4:15 pm-5:15 pm
Location: Rockefeller 301

We performed conductivity measurements of the 2D Wigner solid, which is an triangular array of electrons, on the surface of superfluid He-A and B phases under magnetic fields. The He-A phase has a nodal point of energy gap at North and South Poles of the Fermi sphere and is anisotropic. A unit vector directing from the South Pole to the North Pole is refered to as the L vector. Spatial orientational effect of the L vector is called a “texture”. The L vector preferentially aligns parallel to a surface normal. The conductivity of the Wigner solid is sensitive to the quasiparticle distribution, and hence, sensitive to the L texture. Our observation is in good agreement with the abovementioned picture of the texture. In the B-phase the situation is more subtle. Nevertheless, our observation gives a strong support for the present understanding of the magnetic-field-induced anisotropy of the B-phase.