NMR on the new phases of liquid 3He in contact with platinum powder

Liquid ³He has been cooled by adiabatic demagnetization of copper nuclei to 1.6 mK, well into the region of the superfluid phases. NMR measurements on ³He in a coil partly filled with platinum powder give results different from those expected for bulk liquid.     

Solidification of 3He in a porous glass

NMR relaxation measurements of ³He in porous high silica glass within a temperature range of 0.5 to 4.2 K at various applied pressures up to 14.6 MPa are reported. The onset of solidification of ³He in the pores was observed at excess pressures ≈ 2.3?4.7 MPa above the bulk melting pressure between 1.3 and 2.1 K. The specific heat of ³He in the porous glass was measured to supplement the NMR measurements and the result confirmed the solidification.     

Nuclear spin-lattice relaxation in finely dispersed carbonizate powders

Finely dispersed carbonizate powders were studied with the aim of revealing their suitability for producing hyperpolarized noble gases. In the temperature and frequency dependences obtained over a wide range of temperatures and magnetic fields for the spin-lattice relaxation times of the magnetic moments of ³He, ¹H, and ¹³C nuclei, anomalous features caused by the suppression of the exchange between surface paramagnetic centers in a magnetic field were observed. It is shown that the interaction with magnetic moments of the ¹H nuclei situated near the paramagnetic centers is the main polarization-leakage channel for the noble-gas nuclear spins.     

Spin Kinetics of Liquid <Superscript>3</Superscript>He in Contact with a DyF<Subscript>3</Subscript> Micropowder at Ferromagnetic Ordering of Dy<Superscript>3+</Superscript> Ions

The spin kinetics of liquid ³He in contact with a mixture of LaF₃ (99.67%) and DyF₃ (0.33%) micropowders at temperatures of 1.5–3 K has been studied by pulsed nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The DyF3 is a dipolar dielectric ferromagnet with the phase transition temperature T_c= 2.55 K, whereas the diamagnetic fluoride LaF₃ is a diluting substance for the optimal observation conditions of ³Не NMR in powder pores. The magnetic phase transition in DyF₃ is accompanied by a considerable change in the character of fluctuations of the magnetic moments of dysprosium ions, which affect the spin kinetics of ³Не in contact with the substrate. Significant changes in the relaxations rates of the longitudinal and transverse magnetizations of 3Не have been discovered in the region of magnetic ordering of the solid matrix. The technique of studying the static and fluctuating magnetic fields of a solid matrix at low temperatures using liquid ³He as a probe has been proposed.     

A study of 3He-4He tunneling motion in solid 3He-4He mixtures by means of T1ϱ measurements

³He spin relaxation time in the rotating frame (T_1?) has been measured for 2% ³He in ⁴He solid samples of different molar volume at exchange plateau region (0.5 K). From the data, the characteristic frequency by which a ³He atom exchanges its position with a neighboring ⁴He atom is determined.     

Size effect in the (PrF3 nanoparticles-3He) system

Spin kinetics of adsorbed and liquid ³He in contact with crystalline nanopowders of the Van Vleck paramagnet PrF₃ at a temperature of 1.5 K has been studied by nuclear magnetic resonance. The correlation between the parameters of the nuclear magnetic relaxation of ³He and the sizes of the sample particles has been found. A qualitative model of the magnetic relaxation of ³He describing the experimental results has been proposed.     

Structure and dynamics of the He 2 * (a 3Σ u + molecular complex in condensed phases of helium

An investigation is made of the absorption spectra of triplet metastable helium molecules in the a ³Σ _u ⁺ state in liquid ⁴He and ³He at various pressures and in dense ³He gas. An analysis of the spectrum corresponding to the a ³Σ _u ⁺ → c ³Σ _g ⁺ transition confirms the conclusion that there is a microscopic bubble surrounding the molecule in liquid helium. A simple approximation is proposed for the wave function of the valence electron of the molecule and the parameters of the bubble are determined for various experimental conditions. The coefficient of molecular recombination in liquid ³He and ⁴He was determined experimentally at various pressures and in dense cold ³He gas. The results show good agreement with the theory of mutual recombination limited by molecular diffusion under conditions of strong van der Waals interaction. It is shown that in the condensed phases of helium the polarization of the molecules under the action of the magnetic field does not lead to suppression of their mutual recombination, and this is confirmed experimentally.     

Paramagnetic relaxation of spin polarized 3He at bare glass surfaces

In this first in a series of three papers on wall relaxation of spin polarized, gaseous ³He we investigate both by theory and by experiment surface-induced spin relaxation due to paramagnetic sites in the containing glass. We present experimental and theoretical evidence that — contrary to the traditional opinion — distant dipolar coupling to paramagnetic impurities in the glass, in particular iron ions, cannot be the dominant relaxation mechanism of ³He-spins, although iron dominates the bulk static permeability. Instead dangling-bond type defects in the glass matrix are found to interact much stronger via the isotropic Fermi contact interaction. A model of paramagnetic site controlled ³He relaxation including the Fermi contact interaction is presented. With reasonable semi-empirical assumptions our model allows to describe satisfactorily the measured relaxivities, both in the dissolution-dominated regime of fused silica or borosilicate glasses of the Pyrex type as well as in the surface dominated situation of aluminosilicate glasses which have only a low permeability for He atoms. In a large sample of 1.1 litre cells, built from various aluminosilicate glasses, an average relaxation time of 150 h is reached in case contaminant ferromagnetic particles have been demagnetized beforehand. From the maximum observed value of 250 h we derive after subtraction of dipolar relaxation in the gas phase a paramagnetic surface relaxivity of ρ<0.005 cm/h at room temperature.     

Nuclear relaxation rates for 3He adsorbed on zeolite

Transient nuclear magnetic resonance measurements of spin-lattice and spin-spin relaxation times have been carried out as a function of temperature and pressure on ³He adsorbed on two types of commercial zeolite. In addition, the number of atoms adsorbed on unit weights of zeolite was determined by spin counting. Mechanisms for spin-spin relaxation were provided by dipole interactions among helium spins and spin-lattice relaxation was probably due to atomic motion.     

Nuclear magnetic relaxation of <Superscript>3</Superscript>He in contact with an aerogel above the Fermi temperature

The spin kinetics of ³He in an aerogel has been studied above the Fermi temperature. The magnetic relaxation times T ₁ and T ₂ of adsorbed, gaseous, and liquid ³He in a 95% silica aerogel at a temperature of 1.5 K have been determined as functions of frequency by means of pulse nuclear magnetic resonance. It has been found that the time T ₁ is linear in frequency in all three cases, whereas T ₂ is independent of frequency. To explain the observed behavior of the longitudinal relaxation rate, a theoretical model of relaxation in the adsorbed layer of ³He taking into account the filamentary structure of the aerogel is proposed.     

玻璃中Nd3+离子4F3/2态的多声子弛豫及电子-声子相互作用

本文通过在不同温度下测定Nd³⁺离子⁴F_3/2态的荧光和寿命的方法,确定了Nd³⁺离子⁴F_3/2态的多声子弛豫率对温度的关系,并根据多声子理论和红外振动谱对过程进行了理论拟合,研究了五种玻璃⁴F_3/2态的多声子过程,确定了过程所涉及的声子能量和声子数目,分析了多声子弛豫率与基质性质的关系,进一步在钕玻璃中检验了多声子理论。     

Nuclear spin-lattice relaxation of 3He gas in the presence of oxygen

Nuclear spin lattice relaxation time of ³He gas was measured as a function of oxygen between 0.25 and 15 at.% at room temperature and at 25 atm pressure using spin-echo.     

Spin fluctuations in the vicinity of a charged particle in solid3He

At low temperature the positively charged muon (μ⁺) in solid³He is localized in a polaron which, unlike a chemically bound complex, is held together with polarizational attraction (van der Waals force). The dynamic effects in the muon relaxation are determined by the spin exchange of the³He atoms in the polaron. In crystals with large molar volumes (melting pressureP _m<60 bar) the rate of magnetic field fluctuations at the muon site is at least one order of magnitude lower than in an unperturbed crystal. In an external electric field the μ⁺ produces an anisotropic local distortion which reduces the rate of the local³He spin exchange and leads to an increase of the muon spin relaxation rate.     

A high-pressure polarized <Superscript>3</Superscript>He gas target for nuclear-physics experiments using a polarized photon beam

Following the first experiment on three-body photodisintegration of polarized ³He utilizing circularly polarized photons from High-Intensity Gamma Source (HIg \gamma S) at Duke Free Electron Laser Laboratory (DFELL), a new high-pressure polarized ³He target cell made of pyrex glass coated with a thin layer of sol-gel doped with aluminum nitrate nonahydrate has been built in order to reduce the photon beam-induced background. The target is based on the technique of spin exchange optical pumping of hybrid rubidium and potassium and the highest polarization achieved is ∼ 62% determined from both NMR-AFP and EPR polarimetries. The phenomenological parameter that reflects the additional unknown spin relaxation processes, X , is estimated to be ∼ 0.10 and the performance of the target is in good agreement with theoretical predictions. We also present beam test results from this new target cell and the comparison with the GE180 ³He target cell used previously at HIg \gamma S. This is the first time that the sol-gel coating technique has been used in a polarized ³He target for nuclear-physics experiments.     

On the thermodynamic equilibrium in the <Superscript>3</Superscript>He-aerogel system at low temperatures

A new method for studying the processes of the establishment of the thermodynamic equilibrium in the adsorbed ³He layers in highly porous media has been proposed. Using this method, the thermalization of adsorbed ³He on silica aerogel at a temperature of 1.5 K has been studied. The process of the establishment of the thermodynamic equilibrium has been controlled by measuring the pressure in an experimental cell, the amplitude of the NMR signal, and the nuclear spin-spin and spin-lattice relaxation times of adsorbed ³He. It has been shown that the establishment of the thermodynamic equilibrium in the adsorbed ³He-aerogel system is characterized by a time of 26 min.     

Spin polarized 3He: From basic research to medical applications

Polarization of ³He gas by means of optical pumping is well known since the early 1960s with first applications in fundamental physics. Some thirty years later it was discovered, that one can use hyperpolarized ³He as contrast agent for magnetic resonance imaging of the lung. The wide interest in this new method made it necessary to find ways of polarizing ³He in large quantities with high polarization degrees. A high performance polarizing facility has been developed at the University of Mainz, designed for centralized production of hyperpolarized ³He gas. We present the Mainz concept as well as some examples of numerous applications of spin polarized ³He in fundamental research and medical applications.     

Effects of electron screening on the 3He(d,p)4He low-energy cross sections

The reaction ³He(d, p)⁴He has been investigated for E_CM = 5.9−41.6 keV with the use of D projectiles and ³He atomic gas target nuclides as well as with ³He projectiles and D₂ molecular gas target nuclides. These studies show for the first time the effects of electron screening on low-energy fusion cross sections, i.e. a nearly exponential enhancement of the cross sections compared to the case of bare nuclei. The enhancement is about a factor 2 smaller for the case d(³He, p)⁴He due to the molecular nature of the D₂ target nuclides.     

Mechanism of 3He-mediated nuclear spin-lattice relaxation at surfaces

We measured the nuclear spin-lattice relaxation time T₁, of several surface-bound nuclei, ¹H, ¹⁹F, ¹¹B, ¹³C, ²⁹Si, and ²H, immersed in liquid ³He over the temperature range 0.01 K ⩽ T < 1 K. The Larmor frequencies of these nuclei in a 3.39 T field extended from 22 to 144 MHz. All T₁ values were temperature-independent and ranged from a few seconds to several hours, depending on the particular nucleus and the surface geometry of the sample. The results indicate that the coupled relaxation of surface spins is a phenomenon occurring in all solids immersed in ³He and thus provides a general mechanism for obtaining high nuclear polarization in solids, that the relaxation is controlled by direct dipole-dipole interactions between the surface spins and ³He in the first surface layer, that the ³He motion dynamics do not change appreciably from one surface to another, and that measurements of T₁ may thus be useful for determining the structure of surfaces.     

Temperature dependent specular reflection of 3He quasiparticles from a wall in He II

Measurements of the transverse acoustic impedance of dilute solutions of ³He in superfluid ⁴He show that the fraction of ³He quasiparticles which are specularly reflected at a plane wall is temperature dependent between 0.1 and 1 K. Values of the ³He relaxation time are also obtained.