title: Phase diagram of the topological superfluid 3He confined in a nanoscale slab geometry.
abstract: The superfluid phases of helium-3 ((3)He) are predicted to be strongly influenced by mesoscopic confinement. However, mapping out the phase diagram in a confined geometry has been experimentally challenging. We confined a sample of (3)He within a nanofluidic cavity of precisely defined geometry, cooled it, and fingerprinted the order parameter using a sensitive nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer. The measured suppression of the p-wave order parameter arising from surface scattering was consistent with the predictions of quasi-classical theory. Controlled confinement of nanofluidic samples provides a new laboratory for the study of topological superfluids and their surface- and edge-bound excitations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX, UK.
authors.forename: L V
authors.initials: LV
authors.lastname: Levitin
authors.forename: R G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Bennett
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Casey
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cowan
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Saunders
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Drung
authors.forename: Th
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schurig
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Parpia