Overview
Low temperature physics, including the physics of highly confined superfluid 3He; disordered superfluids; glass at low temperatures, and incorporation of micro- and nano-mechanical resonators into low temperature apparatus.
Research Focus
Significant effort is devoted to the topological superfluid 3He. Under confinement, the role of surfaces, edges and geometry becomes important and represents the opportunity to explore and utilize properties of this most unusual state of matter. We have constructed (and operated) a series of micromachined cells to probe superfluid 3He in the 鈥2D鈥 limit, where the superfluid is confined between two well characterized silicon/glass surfaces separated by distances on the order of a few coherence lengths. New experiments are planned using thermal conduction cells, cells where there are many interfaces possible between the competing A and B phases, in others where the nucleation of the B phase from the A phase will be examined thoroughly. Cells involving direct wafer bonding will probe the superfluid under more confinement where novel superfluid phases are expected to emerge. A next generation of cells where transport behavior akin to the Quantum Hall effect, to SNS and NSN junctions are also being planned. Other topics under active investigation are non-classical flow properties of confined 3He and the dielectric properties of silicon nitride.
The study of superfluid 3He in aerogel: We use high Q oscillators, and thermal conductivity to look for phase transitions and assay the superfluid fraction of 3He in aerogel in the millikelvin temperature range. We are exploring the A-B transition, effects of magnetic field to probe the nature of the superfluid as well as new anisotropic aerogels to 鈥渙rient鈥 the superfluid order parameter. Perhaps we will incorporate aerogel or artificial aerogel in a future cell.
Graduate Students
Rakin Baten
Post Doctoral Scholar
Yefan Tian
Senior Scientists
Abhilash Sebastian, Nik Zhelev, Anna Eyal, Dmytro Lotnyk
Research Associates
Eric Smith
Undergraduate Students
Aldo Chavez
Awards and Honors
- Alfred P. Sloan Fellow, 1982-86
- John Simon Guggenheim Fellow, 1994-95
- Ramakrishna Rao Professor Indian Institute of Science , Bangalore, 2014-15
Professional Experience
- Post-Doctoral Research Associate, Cornell University, 1978-79.
- Assistant Professor, Physics, Texas A M, 1979-84.
- Associate Professor, Physics, Texas A M, 1984-86.
- Associate Professor, Physics, Cornell, 1986-93.
- Professor, Physics, Cornell, 1993-present.
- Acting Chair, Physics Department, Cornell, 2012-2013. Chair, Physics Department, Cornell, 2013-2016.
- Visiting appointments at: Walther-Meissner Institut fur Tieftemperaturforschung; Royal Holloway, University of London.
Publications
Comment on鈥淪tabilized Pair Density Wave viaNanoscale Confinement of Superfluid3He鈥 Lev V. Levitin, Xavier Rojas, Petri J. Heikkinen, Andrew J. Casey, Jeevak M. Parpia and John Saunders, Phys Rev Lett 125, 059601 2020.
Fragility of surface states in topological superfluid 3He P. J. Heikkinen, A. Casey , L. V. Levitin , X. Rojas, A. Vorontsov, P. Sharma, N. Zhelev, J. M. Parpia, J. Saunders, and submitted to Nature Comm 2020.
Thermal transport of helium-3 in a strongly confining channel. D. Lotnyk, A. Eyal, N. Zhelev, T.S. Abhilash, E.N. Smith, M. Terilli, J. Wilson, E. Mueller, D. Einzel, J. Saunders, J.M. Parpia, accepted for publication in Nature Comm 2020.
, N. Zhelev, T.S. Abhilash, E.N. Smith, R.G. Bennett, X. Rojas, L. Levitin, J. Saunders, and J.M. Parpia Nature Communications (2017) DOI: 10.1038/ncomms15963
, Roberto De Alba, T. S. Abhilash, Richard H. Rand, Harold G. Craighead, and Jeevak M. Parpia, Nano Letters DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.6b04769
, J. Nyeki, A. Phillis, A. Ho, D. Lee, P. Coleman, J. Parpia, B. Cowan and J. Saunders Nature Physics, 13 455-459 (2017)
doi:10.1038/nphys4023
Tunable phonon-cavity coupling in graphene membranes, R. De Alba, F. Massel, I. R. Storch, T. S. Abhilash, A. Hui, P. L. McEuen, H. G. Craighead J. M. Parpia Nature Nanotechnology 11, 741鈥746 (2016). doi:10.1038/nnano.2016.86
Phase Diagram of the Topological Superfluid 3He Confined in a Nanoscale Slab Geometry, Levitin, L.V.; Bennett, R.G.; Casey, A.; Cowan, B.; Saunders, J.; Drung, D.; Schurig, T.; Parpia, J.M. Science, 340, 841-4, (2013).
Observation of a new superfluid phase for 3He embedded in nematically ordered aerogel, N. Zhelev, M. Reichl, T.S. Abhilash, E.N. Smith, K.X. Nguyen, E.J. Mueller J.M. Parpia, Nature Communications, (2016) DOI: 10.1038/ncomms12975
In the news
- In helium-three, superfluid particles pair 鈥榣ike a dance in space鈥
- Superfluid reacts strangely under pressure change
- Superfluid shows more surprising phenomena
- Polka dot pattern upends superfluid hypothesis
- Donald Holcomb, emeritus physics professor, dies at 92
- Machining staff: 鈥榳izards who share their secrets鈥
- Secrets of superfluid helium explored
- Jeevak Parpia wins low-temperature physics prize
- Graphene used as a frequency mixer in Cornell-led research
