Abstract | Superfluid3He film flow over the rim of a copper beaker has been measured. The flow rate was measured as a function of temperature and as a function of depth of3He below the rim or film thickness at the rim. The critical current, calculated from the flow rate, varied as (1 -T/Tc p)3/2 as expected for pair-breaking;Tc p is a film-thickness-dependent critical temperature. However, the magnitude of the current was an order of magnitude smaller than expected for pair-breaking, in agreement with other experiments that have demonstrated a lower dissipation mechanism in superfluid3He. The suppression of the critical temperature Tc p/Tc b, where Tc b=0.93 mK is the bulk3He transition temperature, varied from 0.93 to 0.7 as the film thickness at the rim varied from 120 to 90 nm. These ratios are larger than expected from Ginzburg-Landau or microscopic theory of superfluid3He-B. © 1988 Plenum Publishing Corporation. |
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