Critical casimir effect and wetting by helium mixtures.

Abstract

We have measured the contact angle of the interface of phase-separated 3He-4He mixtures against a sapphire window. We have found that this angle is finite and does not tend to zero when the temperature approaches T(t), the temperature of the tricritical point. On the contrary, it increases with temperature. This behavior is a remarkable exception to what is generally observed near critical points, i.e., "critical point wetting." We propose that it is a consequence of the "critical Casimir effect" which leads to an effective attraction of the 3He-4He interface by the sapphire near T(t).