B. V. Pashinsky

Onset of Melting in Finite Ion Crystals: The Role of Structural Isomerization

We theoretically investigate the microscopic mechanism of melting in finite two-dimensional ion crystals confined in anisotropic traps. Building on our previous studies of melting probability as a function of temperature and anisotropy, we extend the analysis to crystal sizes ranging from $N=4$ to $N=101$ ions and exam...