Tuning the wetting transition: Prewetting and superfluidity ofHe4on thin cesium substrates

Abstract
We have deposited cesium with monolayer thickness resolution on to the surfaces of a low-temperature quartz microbalance. By controlling the cesium thickness in the range from 1 to 25 monolayers, we have been able to continuously tune the substrate adsorption potential and observe its effect on the He4 prewetting phase diagram. The wetting temperature can be conveniently adjusted in the range between 1 and 2 K. Features in both the frequency shift and the dissipation of the microbalance were used to map out the superfluid-normal boundary in the prewetting phase diagram. The transition from thin normal to thick superfluid occurs without the dissipation peak characteristic of a Kosterlitz-Thouless transition.

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