Nucleation and growth of He-3 crystals below 1 mK

We describe our first measurements on nucleation and growth of He-3 crystal s at temperatures down to 0.55 mK. Nucleation of the solid phase initiated by high voltage has been explored. The growth kinetics of the solid-liquid interface has been studied by combining a low-temperature multiple-beam int erferometer and high-precision pressure measurements. The effective growth coefficient obtained in our preliminary measurements is consistent with the data of Akimoto et al. at 0.7 mK (Physica B 255 (1998) 19. (C) 2000 Elsevi er Science B.V. All rights reserved.