Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 26 (1987) Supplement 26-3-1 pp. 219-220  |Previous Article| |Next Article|  |Table of Contents|
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Proc. 18th Int. Conf. Low Temperature Physics, Kyoto, 1987

Pumping of Dilute Polarized ³He–⁴He Solutions by a Magnetic Field Gradient

A. M. Guénault, D. J. Hayward, T. R. Nichols, G. R. Pickett and G. F. Spencer

An experiment is described which is aimed at demonstrating the pumping effect of a magnetic field on dilute (0.01-0.03%) solutions of ³He in ⁴He. At 4 mK and 10 T, conditions are reached such that the Fermi “gas” of ³He becomes spin-polarized and the polarizing magnetic field strength acts as the quantum mechanical potential for the system. In our experiment, a magnetic field gradient is applied, so that the ³He finds its lowest energy states in the high-field region and the low-field region is depleted of ³He. The pumping (and thus indirectly the polarization) is observed as a concentration change in the low-field part of the experiment as the ³He is removed. We making preliminary experiments to observe this effect by using a vibrating wire resonator and by capacitance methods. Once we can demonstrate that a gradient of ³He concentration can be set up then there are several interesting experiments which can be contemplated.

URL: http://jjap.jsap.jp/link?JJAPS/26S3/219/