Localization and Wetting of 4He Inside Pre-plated Nanopores

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Paul, Sutirtha, Lakoba, Taras, Sokol, Paul E., Del Maestro, Adrian
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2025
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author Paul, Sutirtha
Lakoba, Taras
Sokol, Paul E.
Del Maestro, Adrian
author_facet Paul, Sutirtha
Lakoba, Taras
Sokol, Paul E.
Del Maestro, Adrian
contents Low dimensional quantum fluids, where one can probe the effects of enhanced thermal and quantum fluctuations on macroscopic quantum wavefunctions, can be experimentally realized through transverse physical confinement of superfluid helium on scales smaller than the coherence length. Reaching this scale is difficult, requiring confinement in single or multiple pores with nanometer radii. Porous silicates such as MCM-41 have a pore radius larger than the coherence length of 4He, and in this work we systematically explore the possibility of pre-plating pores with different elements to reduce the pore size without localizing the confined superfluid. Through a direct solution of the few-body Schrodinger equation combined with quantum Monte Carlo simulations, we explore the behavior of helium confined inside cylindrical nanopores for a range of pre-plating elements, including rare gases and alkali metals. For rare gases, we find that helium remains strongly attracted to the pore walls and any atoms in the core form an incompressible liquid. For alkali metals such as Cs, weak interactions between helium and the pre-plating material prevent localization near the walls and enable delocalization in the pore center. Our results extend previous results for helium wetting on flat two dimensional coated substrates to the curved geometry inside nanopores, and demonstrate that alkali pre-plated nanopores may enable a tunable one-dimensional confined quantum liquid of helium.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_10690
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Localization and Wetting of 4He Inside Pre-plated Nanopores
Paul, Sutirtha
Lakoba, Taras
Sokol, Paul E.
Del Maestro, Adrian
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Low dimensional quantum fluids, where one can probe the effects of enhanced thermal and quantum fluctuations on macroscopic quantum wavefunctions, can be experimentally realized through transverse physical confinement of superfluid helium on scales smaller than the coherence length. Reaching this scale is difficult, requiring confinement in single or multiple pores with nanometer radii. Porous silicates such as MCM-41 have a pore radius larger than the coherence length of 4He, and in this work we systematically explore the possibility of pre-plating pores with different elements to reduce the pore size without localizing the confined superfluid. Through a direct solution of the few-body Schrodinger equation combined with quantum Monte Carlo simulations, we explore the behavior of helium confined inside cylindrical nanopores for a range of pre-plating elements, including rare gases and alkali metals. For rare gases, we find that helium remains strongly attracted to the pore walls and any atoms in the core form an incompressible liquid. For alkali metals such as Cs, weak interactions between helium and the pre-plating material prevent localization near the walls and enable delocalization in the pore center. Our results extend previous results for helium wetting on flat two dimensional coated substrates to the curved geometry inside nanopores, and demonstrate that alkali pre-plated nanopores may enable a tunable one-dimensional confined quantum liquid of helium.
title Localization and Wetting of 4He Inside Pre-plated Nanopores
topic Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.10690