Universality and Finite-Size Scaling of the Specific Heat of ³He-⁴He Mixtures

We have measured the heat capacity of ³He-⁴He mixtures confined in films of thickness 48.3 and 986.9 nm. The confinement is defined by direct bonding of two silicon wafers. The heat capacity is measured using an ac technique and then transformed to correct for exponent renormalization effects. The data address the expected universal critical behavior along the λ line as function of ³He concentration. We discuss the results of several analyses of the data, and we show that a universal collapse can be achieved for all the mixtures. However, this is on a locus which differs from that of the pure system. An alternative analysis is also presented which yields collapse of all the data under certain assumptions. We believe these data are the first to test universality of finite-size scaling for the specific heat along a locus of transitions.