3d-helix.tex

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[pdftex,active,tightpage]{preview}
\setlength\PreviewBorder{2mm}
\usepackage{pgfplots}

\begin{document}
\begin{preview}
\pgfplotsset{
    colormap={whitered}{
        color(0cm)=(white);
        color(1cm)=(orange!75!red)
    }
}
\begin{tikzpicture}
    \begin{axis}[
    colormap name=whitered,
    width=15cm,
    view={335}{50},
    enlargelimits=false,
    grid=major,
    domain=-2:2,
    y domain=-2:2,
    samples=40, %60 : TeX capacity exceeded, sorry [main memory size=3000000].
                % see also http://tex.stackexchange.com/a/7954/5645
    xlabel=$x$,
    ylabel=$y$,
    zlabel={$z$}
    ]
        \addplot3+[domain=0:2*pi,samples y=0]
            ({sin(deg(x))},
             {cos(deg(x))},
             {x});
    \end{axis}
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{preview}
\end{document}