Probing the helium-graphite interaction

Two separate lines of investigation have recently converged to produce a highly detailed picture of the behavior of helium atoms physisorbed on graphite basal plane surfaces. Atomic beam scattering experiments on single crystals have yielded accurate values for the binding energies of several states for both ${}_{}{}^4{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{He}$ and ${}_{}{}^3{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{He}$, as well as matrix elements of the largest Fourier component of the periodic part of the interaction potential. From these data, a complete three-dimensional description of the potential has been constructed, and the energy band structure of a helium atom moving in this potential calculated. At the same time, accurate thermodynamic measurements were made on submonolayer helium films adsorbed on Grafoil. The binding energy and low-coverage specific heat deduced from these measurements are in excellent agreement with those calculated from the band structures.