Imaging Quantum Vortices in Superfluid Helium Droplets.

Annu Rev Phys Chem

Department of Chemistry and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Unive rsity of Southern California , Los Angeles, California 90089, USA; email:

Published: June 2019

Free superfluid helium droplets constitute a versatile medium for a diverse range of experiments in physics and chemistry that extend from studies of the fundamental laws of superfluid motion to the synthesis of novel nanomaterials. In particular, the emergence of quantum vortices in rotating helium droplets is one of the most dramatic hallmarks of superfluidity and gives detailed access to the wave function describing the quantum liquid. This review provides an introduction to quantum vorticity in helium droplets, followed by a historical account of experiments on vortex visualization in bulk superfluid helium and a more detailed discussion of recent advances in the study of the rotational motion of isolated, nano- to micrometer-scale superfluid helium droplets. Ultrafast X-ray and extreme ultraviolet scattering techniques enabled by X-ray free-electron lasers and high-order harmonic generation in particular have facilitated the in situ detection of droplet shapes and the imaging of vortex structures inside individual, isolated droplets. New applications of helium droplets ranging from studies of quantum phase separations to mechanisms of low-temperature aggregation are discussed.

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Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev-physchem-042018-052744DOI Listing

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