Liquid-crystal phase transition in a system of surface electrons at temperatures below 0.3°K

Abstract

An inflection is observed in the pressing electric field dependence of the mobility of electrons localized on the surface of liquid helium at temperatures below T = 0.3°K. The position of this inflection is determined by temperature and charge concentration. It is shown that the inflection corresponds to a liquid to crystal phase transition in the surface electron system. The observed change in the character of the mobility dependence upon transition to a crystalline electron structure agrees well with theoretical concepts.