The use of vibrating quartz forks in cryogenic helium research - On their ability to detect an externally applied flow in superfluid 4He

Abstract

Quartz tuning forks mass-produced as frequency standards for watches proved to serve as very useful tools for generating and probing flows of gaseous and liquid helium. Their cryogenic use as thermometers, pressure- and viscometers as well as generators and detectors of cavitation and turbulence has been recently widely discussed in the literature [JLTP 136, 1 (2004); 146, 537 (2007); 150, 525 (2008)]. Here we report our preliminary experiments where the vibrating fork is used to detect the externally applied flow in superfluid 4He. © 2009 IOP Publishing Ltd.