4He crystals in superfluid under zero gravity

Abstract

The response of 4He crystals to the rapid reduction of gravity down to practically zero in a superfluid was investigated visually, utilizing the parabolic flight of a jet plane. At a high temperature of 1.6 K, the shape of 4He crystals in the bcc phase did not change with a reduction of gravity during a parabolic period of 20 s, due to the low crystallization rate. At lower temperatures, such as 0.63 K, where the crystallization rate is sufficiently high, the shape of 4He crystals in the hcp phase changed significantly, relaxing to a quasiequilibrium shape under zero gravity, where the c facet became enlarged and the a facet emerged on the surface. The crystal did not detach from the sample cell wall at any time because the adhesive force manifested as partial wetting to the wall was sufficiently strong. Some crystals removed from the wall by an acoustic wave pulse were found to float and drift in the superfluid for approximately 4.2 s under zero gravity, although most of them were quickly reattached to the wall.