Abstract
Given the running controversies on the interpretation of supersolidity, it appears important to measure more accurately what are the properties of helium 4 crystals in the absence of disorder. We recall how to prepare single crystals with no or very few dislocations. We then show that these crystals are extremely fragile and how to avoid the formation of defects. The main purpose of this article is to show how one can eliminate all helium 3 impurities from the solid: if the crystals are in equilibrium with liquid helium 4 below 50 mK, all helium 3 impurities are bound to the liquid phase with a large binding energy which we have calculated from the description of helium mixtures by Edwards and Balibar (Phys. Rev. B 39:4083, 1989).
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This work is supported by the French ANR grant BLAN07-1-215296 and by the US NSF grant No. DMR-0605355.
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Pantalei, C., Rojas, X., Edwards, D.O. et al. How to Prepare an Ideal Helium 4 Crystal. J Low Temp Phys 159, 452–461 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10909-010-0159-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10909-010-0159-6