Catalysis of impurities coalescence by quantized vortices in superfluid helium with nanofilaments formation

Abstract

The dramatic effect of quantized vortices in superfluid helium on the rate of coalescence of suspended impurities has been predicted; such catalytic process should result in formation of fiber-like structures having primarily nanothickness. That should be valid for any impurity and it may be used as a base for the universal method of nanowires and nanotubes producing. The experiments on molecular hydrogen imbedding into liquid helium supported these conclusions. They showed that: (i) in normal liquid He the coalescence led to formatting spherical microparticles carried by turbulent motion of a liquid; (ii) in the superfluid only very long filaments were observed, they behaved as quantized vortices should do. These filaments are fiber-like hydrogen crystals and they survived liquid helium transition to normal state. The promises for using this phenomenon in basic and applied sciences have been outlined.