Shell Structure, Melting and Dynamics of Ion Clusters Confined in an Octupolar Trap

摘要

The stable structures of clusters of identical ions trapped in an isotropic octupolar trap are investigated using global optimization methods. These clusters form well defined shells of ions that are approximately solutions of the Thomson problem. In particular, magic numbers are found to correlate with highly symmetric configurations. Using Monte Carlo simulations, finite temperature properties are also investigated. Melting proceeds from the core, and takes place through a very progressive loss of the shell structure. The hollow shape is eventually lost at very high temperatures, where the ions essentially feel the confinement but not the Coulomb repulsion. The vibrational density of states shows marked differences with the harmonic case, but also with bulk Wigner crystals. The variations of the maximal Lyapunov exponent obtained from additional molecular dynamics trajectories reveals that the dynamics becomes increasingly chaotic as the temperature increases. With the decreasing influence of the Coulomb interaction, a more regular behavior is found at very high temperatures but, contrary to the quadrupolar case, still highly chaotic.