Abstract
In an attempt to increase, at temperatures of a few kelvins, the relaxation time of a dilute3He gas enclosed in spherical Pyrex or pure silica bulbs 3 cm in diameter, we have studied the relaxing properties of various coatings, such as solid O2 and solid N2 and multiple coatings of H2 on N2, H2 on O2, and H2 on H2O. Contrary to naive expectations, thin films of solid oxygen proved to be very efficient coatings, although single molecules are paramagnetic. When multiple coatings are compared, they even provide the best undercoating to hydrogen films. The longest relaxation time we measured at 4.2 K was 8000 min, i.e., more than 5 days. We also found that Pyrex and pure silica, either bare or coated, give comparable results below 50 K. These experiments enabled us to measure the adsorption energy of3He on O2, ΔW(3He/O2)=130±15 K, and of3He on N2, ΔW(3He/N2)=200±50 K. In the absence of any theoretical calculation, these energies still need to be confirmed by other experimental techniques.
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Laboratory associated with the CNRS. U.A. 18.
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Lefevre-Seguin, V., Brossel, J. Attempts to increase the nuclear relaxation time of a3He gas at low temperatures. J Low Temp Phys 72, 165–188 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00681731
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00681731