Study of the 3He film formed on the dilute 3He/4He mixture by measuring the surface state electron transport

Abstract

The thin $^3$He film formed on the surface of $^3$He-$^4$He mixture provides an ideal system to study fermion systems in reduced dimensions. However, due to the large background from bulk $^3$He-$^4$He mixture, it is very difficult to probe the property of the $^3$He film alone. The transport of surface state electrons, bound on the surface of the $^3$He-$^4$He mixture, provides a nice tool to study those systems. At T > 15 mK, the transport of surface state electrons on the $^3$He-$^4$He mixture with $^3$He concentration below 6.6% shows a unique accommodation process of bulk $^3$He quasi-particles at the film. We also theoretically examine the resistivity of the Wigner solid on the stripe phase, postulated to exist in superfluid $^3$He film, and predict the angular dependence in resistivity. Based on the calculation, we suggest an experimental setup to examine the existence and the structure of the stripe phase.