Imaging Chiral Domains in Superfluid Helium

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is best known as a medical imaging tool, but it can also be applied to visualize microscopic features of quantum materials like superfluids and superconductors. A high-resolution MRI technique has now allowed Yutaka Sasaki of Kyoto University, Japan, and colleagues to uncover a previously hidden structure of chiral domains in superfluid helium-3 (³HE). The result suggests that MRI might be used to visualize vortices and other topological structures in a variety of quantum materials.