Direct Observations of Structural Phase Transitions in Planar Crystallized Ion Plasmas
- 13 November 1998
- journal article
- other
- Published by American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Science
- Vol. 282 (5392) , 1290-1293
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.282.5392.1290
Abstract
Laser-cooled 9Be+ ions confined in two-dimensionally extended lattice planes were directly observed, and the images were used to characterize the structural phases of the ions. Five different stable crystalline phases were observed, and the energetically favored structure could be sensitively tuned by changing the areal density of the confined ions. The experimental results are in good agreement with theoretical predictions for the planar (infinite in two dimensions) one-component plasma. Qualitatively similar structural phase transitions occur, or are predicted to occur, in other experimentally realizable planar systems.Keywords
This publication has 32 references indexed in Scilit:
- Phases in strongly coupled electronic bilayer liquidsPhysical Review E, 1997
- Wigner crystallization in quantum electron bilayersEurophysics Letters, 1997
- Stability, dynamical properties, and melting of a classical bilayer Wigner crystalPhysical Review B, 1996
- Wigner-crystal phases in bilayer quantum Hall systemsPhysical Review B, 1995
- First-order anharmonic correction to the free energy of a Coulomb crystal in periodic boundary conditionsPhysical Review A, 1990
- Static properties of a non-neutral-ion plasmaPhysical Review A, 1988
- Computer simulation of ion clouds in a Penning trapPhysical Review Letters, 1988
- Structure of a One-Component Plasma in an External Field: A Molecular-Dynamics Study of Particle Arrangement in a Heavy-Ion Storage RingPhysical Review Letters, 1986
- Evidence for a Liquid-to-Crystal Phase Transition in a Classical, Two-Dimensional Sheet of ElectronsPhysical Review Letters, 1979
- Radiation-Pressure Cooling of Bound Resonant AbsorbersPhysical Review Letters, 1978