Superfluid 3He in squeezed nematic aerogel
V. V. Dmitriev+, M. S. Kutuzov*, A. A. Soldatov+, A. N. Yudin+×
+P. L. Kapitza Institute for Physical Problems of Russian Academy of Sciences, 119334 Moscow, Russia
*Metallurg Engineering Ltd., 11415 Tallinn, Estonia
×National Research University Higher School of Economics, 101000 Moscow, Russia
Abstract
We present results of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiments in
superfluid 3He in two samples of nematic aerogel consisting of nearly
parallel mullite strands. The samples were cut from the same piece of the
aerogel, but one of them was squeezed by 30 % in the direction transverse to the
strands. In both samples the superfluid transition of 3He occurred into the
polar phase, where no qualitative difference between NMR properties of 3He in
these samples was found. The difference, however, has appeared on further
cooling, after the transition to the polar-distorted A phase (PdA phase) with
the orbital part of the order parameter in the 2D Larkin-Imry-Ma (LIM) state. In
the squeezed sample the 2D LIM state is anisotropic that results in changes in
the NMR, which can be used as an additional marker of the PdA phase and have
allowed us to measure the value of the anisotropy.