Quartz Microbalance Studies of an Adsorbed Helium Film

Abstract

The resonant frequency of a quartz crystal oscillating in the thickness-shear mode changes by virtue of the mass loading due to any type of film laid down on its surfaces. For a helium film only the normal fraction remains rigidly coupled to the substrate motion. Adsorption isotherms of ${\mathrm{He}}^4$ measured with this technique show clear departures from conventional nonsuperfluid behavior. We attribute this effect to the onset and presence of superfluidity in the film.