Athermal processes in the plastic deformation of bcc 4He

Measurements have been made of the temperature dependence of the plastic deformation of bcc solid ⁴He. The results strongly indicate that the deformation process is athermal. Comparison is made with NMR measurements of the spin diffusion coefficient for the bcc phase of dilute solutions of ³He in ⁴He. The results are discussed in terms of possible mechanisms for the plastic deformation.This research was supported by the National Science Foundation through the Materials Research Laboratory of Brown University and Grant No. DMR75-14761.