Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Observation of ‘third sound’ in superfluid 3He

Abstract

Waves on the surface of a fluid provide a powerful tool for studying the fluid itself and the surrounding physical environment. For example, the wave speed is determined by the force per unit mass at the surface, and by the depth of the fluid1: the decreasing speed of ocean waves as they approach the shore reveals the changing depth of the sea and the strength of gravity. Other examples include propagating waves in neutron-star oceans2 and on the surface of levitating liquid drops3. Although gravity is a common restoring force, others exist, including the electrostatic force which causes a thin liquid film to adhere to a solid. Usually surface waves cannot occur on such thin films because viscosity inhibits their motion. However, in the special case of thin films of superfluid 4He, surface waves do exist and are called ‘third sound’. Here we report the detection of similar surface waves in thin films of superfluid 3He. We describe studies of the speed of these waves, the properties of the surface force, and the film's superfluid density.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Schematic representations of a third-sound wave and of the experimental apparatus.
Figure 2: 3He third-sound spectra, and the resonant frequencies as a function of temperature.
Figure 3: The speed of 3He third sound and the associated superfluid density as a function of temperature.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Landau, L. D. & Lifshitz, E. M. Fluid Mechanics 36–44 (Pergamon, Oxford, (1959)).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Bildsten, L. & Cutler, C. Nonradial oscillations in neutron star oceans: a source of quasi-periodic x-ray oscillations? Astrophys. J. 449, 800–812 (1995).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Whitaker, D. L., Weilart, M. A., Vincente, C. L., Maris, H. J. & Seidel, G. M. Oscillations of charged helium II drops. J. Low Temp. Phys. 110, 173–178 (1998).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Tilley, D. R. & Tilley, J. Superfluidity and Superconductivity 77–83 (Hilger, Bristol, (1986)).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Atkins, K. R. Third and fourth sound in liquid helium II. Phys. Rev. 113, 962–965 (1959).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Everitt, C. W. F., Atkins, K. R. & Denenstein, A. Third sound in liquid helium films. Phys. Rev. 136, A1494–A1499 (1964).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. Bergman, D. Hydrodynamics and third sound in thin HeII films. Phys. Rev. 188, 370–384 (1969).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Rudnick, I. Critical surface density of the superfluid component in 4He films. Phys. Rev. Lett. 40, 1454–1455 (1978).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Ellis, F. M., Hallock, R. B., Miller, M. D. & Guyer, R. A. Phase separation in films of 3He-4He mixtures. Phys. Rev. Lett. 46, 1461–1464 (1981).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Ketola, K. S., Wang, S. & Hallock, R. B. Anomalous wetting of helium on cesium. Phys. Rev. Lett. 68, 201–204 (1992).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Ellis, F. M. & Li, L. Quantum swirling of superfluid helium films. Phys. Rev. Lett. 71, 1577–1580 (1993).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Sheldon, P. A. & Hallock, R. B. Third sound and energetics in 3He-4He mixture films. Phys. Rev. B 50, 16082–16085 (1994).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Brisson, J. G., Mester, J. C. & Silvera, I. F. Third sound of helium on a hydrogen substrate. Phys. Rev. B 44, 12453–12462 (1991).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Ekholm, D. T. & Hallock, R. B. Studies of the decay of persistent currents in unsaturated films of superfluid 4He. Phys. Rev. B 21, 3902–3912 (1980).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Pickar, K. A. & Atkins, K. R. Critical velocity of a superflowing liquid-helium film using third sound. Phys. Rev. 178, 389–399 (1969).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Cho, H. & Williams, G. A. Vortex core size in submonolayer superfluid 4He films. Phys. Rev. Lett. 75, 1562–1565 (1995).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Eggenkamp, M. E. W. et al. On the possibility of observing third sound on 3He. J. Low Temp. Phys. 110, 299–304 (1998).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Schechter, A. M. R., Simmonds, R. W. & Davis, J. C. Capacitive generation and detection of third sound resonances in saturated superfluid 4He films. J. Low Temp. Phys. 110, 603–608 (1998).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Sachrajda, A., Harris-Lowe, R. F., Harrison, J. P., Turkington, R. R. & Daunt, J. G. 3He film flow: two-dimensional superfluidity. Phys. Rev. Lett. 55, 1602–1605 (1985).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Daunt, J. G. et al. Critical temperature and critical current of thin-film superfluid 3He. J. Low Temp. Phys. 70, 547–568 (1988).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Davis, J. C., Amar, A., Pekola, J. P. & Packard, R. E. Superfluidity of 3He films. Phys. Rev. Lett. 60, 302–304 (1988).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Xu, J. & Crooker, B. C. Very thin films of 3He: a new phase? Phys. Rev. Lett. 65, 3005–3008 (1990).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Freeman, M. R., Germain, R. S., Thuneberg, E. V. & Richardson, R. C. Size effects in thin films of superfluid 3He. Phys. Rev. Lett. 60, 596–599 (1988).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Jacobsen, K. W. & Smith, H. Critical current for the flow of superfluid 3He in a confined geometry. J. Low Temp. Phys. 67, 83–89 (1987).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Tilley, D. R. & Tilley, J. Superfluidity and Superconductivity 92–94 (Hilger, Bristol, (1986)).

    Google Scholar 

  26. Porto, J. V. & Parpia, J. M. Superfluid 3He in aerogel. Phys. Rev. Lett. 74, 4667–4670 (1995).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Freeman, M. R. Size Effects in 3He Films. Thesis, Cornell Univ.((1988)).

    Google Scholar 

  28. Stein, D. L. & Cross, M. C. Phase transitions in two dimensional superfluid 3He. Phys. Rev. Lett. 42, 504–507 (1979).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Volovik, G. E. An analog of the quantum Hall Effect in a superfluid 3He film. Sov. Phys. JETP 67, 1804–1811 (1988).

    Google Scholar 

  30. Kurihara, S. Singlet superfluidity in 3He film on 4He film. J. Phys. Soc. Jpn 52, 1311–1316 (1983).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank L. Bildsten, R. B. Hallock, D.-H. Lee, J. M. Goodkind, O. Ishikawa, J.Harrison and G. Williams for discussions. This work was supported by the NSF, the ONR and by the Packard Foundation.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to J. C. Davis.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Schechter, A., Simmonds, R., Packard, R. et al. Observation of ‘third sound’ in superfluid 3He. Nature 396, 554–557 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/25090

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/25090

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing