Strong-Coupling and the Stripe Phase of He

Thin films of superfluid He were predicted, based on weak-coupling BCS theory, to have a stable phase which spontaneously breaks translational symmetry in the plane of the film. This crystalline superfluid, or "stripe" phase, develops as a one-dimensional periodic array of domain walls separating degenerate B phase domains. We report calculations of the phases and phase diagram for superfluid He in thin films using a strong-coupling Ginzburg-Landau theory that accurately reproduces the bulk He superfluid phase diagram. We find that the stability of the Stripe phase is diminished relative to the A phase, but the Stripe phase is stable in a large range of temperatures, pressures, confinement, and surface conditions.