Abstract

Physica B (2003) 329-333 262.

Transmission of Helium Atoms Through a Helium-II Slab

C.D.H. Williams and A.F.G. Wyatt

School of Physics, University of Exeter, Exeter, EX4 4QL (UK).

(Submitted August 2002; Accepted September 2002

We describe an experiment motivated by a recent theoretical calculation of the transmission probability of ⁴He atoms through a freely suspended slab of superfluid ⁴He at low temperatures (J. Low Temp. Phys. 113 (1998) 519). In our experiments the slab is realised by using an array of parallel cylindrical holes of diameter 0.05 mm in a glass disc of thickness 0.2 m. By controlling the chemical potential, the holes can be made to fill or empty with liquid, and the surface curvature varied. We have made preliminary measurements of the transmission of atom beams, generated by a thin-film heater and detected with a sensitive bolometer, through this structure.

Keywords: liquid helium, surfaces, quantum condensation, quantum evaporation.
Preprint: CW020924-1.pdf