Study of the {sup 4}He crystal surface

The evolution of the meniscus of a helium crystal near the (0001) face is traced during a change in the boundary conditions at the chamber wall in the temperature range 0.5-0.9 K. The critical behavior of the contact angle is studied. An anisotropy is detected in the crystal-glass interface energy. New data on the temperature dependence of the elementary-step energy are obtained.