Structure of large 3He-4He mixed drops around a dopant molecule

Abstract

We have investigated how helium atoms are distributed within a mixed 3 He N 3 - 4 He N 4 large drop with N 3 ≫ N 4 . For drops doped with a SF 6 molecule or a Xe atom, we have found that the number of 3 He atoms within the volume containing the first two solvation shells increases when N 4 decreases in such a way that these dopants may be in a superfluid environment for N 4 ≥ 60 , which gradually disappears as N 4 decreases. The result is in qualitative agreement with recent experimental data.