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arXiv · 1401.5153

Stability of superfluid 3He-B in compressed aerogel

J. I. A. Li·A. M. Zimmerman·J. Pollanen·C. A. Collett·W. J. Gannon·W. P. Halperin
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Abstract

In recent work it was shown that new anisotropic p-wave states of superfluid 3He can be stabilized within high porosity silica aerogel under uniform positive strain [1]. In contrast, the equilibrium phase in an unstrained aerogel, is the isotropic superfluid B-phase [2]. Here we report that this phase stability depends on the sign of the strain. For negative strain of ~20% achieved by compression, the B-phase can be made more stable than the anisotropic A-phase resulting in a tricritical point for A, B, and normal phases with a critical field of ~100 mT. From pulsed NMR measurements we identify these phases and the orientation of the angular momentum.

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J. I. A. Li, A. M. Zimmerman, J. Pollanen, C. A. Collett, W. J. Gannon, W. P. Halperin. 2014-01-21. Stability of superfluid 3He-B in compressed aerogel. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.112.115303

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