Liquid and solid phases of 3He on graphite

TL;DR

This study uses quantum Monte Carlo simulations to analyze the phase diagram of liquid and solid phases of $^3$He on graphite, confirming experimental observations of a stable liquid phase at very low densities.

Contribution

The paper provides the first quantum Monte Carlo calculations of the phase diagram of $^3$He on graphite considering substrate corrugation, matching recent experimental results.

Findings

Liquid $^3$He is stable at extremely low densities on graphite.

Corrugated substrate predicts gas-liquid coexistence, flat substrate does not.

Solid phases and phase transitions are characterized at higher densities.

Abstract

Recent heat-capacity experiments show quite unambiguously the existence of a liquid $^3$He phase adsorbed on graphite. This liquid is stable at an extremely low density, possibly one of the lowest found in Nature. Previous theoretical calculations of the same system, and in strictly two dimensions, agree with the result that this liquid phase is not stable and the system is in the gas phase. We calculated the phase diagram of normal $^3$He adsorbed on graphite at $T=0$ using quantum Monte Carlo methods. Considering a fully corrugated substrate we observe that at densities lower that 0.006 \AA$^{-2}$ the system is a very dilute gas, that at that density is in equilibrium with a liquid of density 0.014 \AA$^{-2}$. Our prediction matches very well the recent experimental findings on the same system. On the contrary, when a flat substrate is considered, no gas-liquid coexistence is found, in agreement with previous calculations. We also report results on the different solid structures, and the corresponding phase transitions that appear at higher densities.