Communication: nucleation of quantized vortex rings in 4He nanodroplets.
Whereas most of the phenomena associated with superfluidity have been observed in finite-size helium systems, the nucleation of quantized vortices has proven elusive. Here we show using time-dependent density functional simulations that the solvation of a Ba(+) ion created by photoionization of neutral Ba at the surface of a (4)He nanodroplet leads to the nucleation of a quantized ring vortex. The vortex is nucleated on a 10 ps timescale at the equator of a solid-like solvation structure that forms around the Ba(+) ion. The process is expected to be quite general and very efficient under standard experimental conditions.
Departament ECM, Facultat de Física, and INUB, Universitat de Barcelona, Diagonal 645, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
David
D
Mateo
Departament ECM, Facultat de Física, and INUB, Universitat de Barcelona, Diagonal 645, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
Antonio
A
Leal
Laboratory of Theoretical Physical Chemistry, Institut des Sciences et Ingénierie Chimiques, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
Alberto
A
Hernando
Departament ECM, Facultat de Física, and INUB, Universitat de Barcelona, Diagonal 645, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
Manuel
M
Barranco
Departament ECM, Facultat de Física, and INUB, Universitat de Barcelona, Diagonal 645, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
Martí
M
Pi
Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie Molecolari (ISTM), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, via Golgi 19, 20133 Milano, Italy.
Fausto
F
Cargnoni
Dipartimento di Scienza ed Alta Tecnologia, Università degli Studi dell'Insubria, via Valleggio 11, 22100 Como, Italy.
Massimo
M
Mella
Laboratoire de Chimie Physique Moléculaire, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
Xiaohang
X
Zhang
Laboratoire de Chimie Physique Moléculaire, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
Marcel
M
Drabbels