Abstract
We report experiments on the stability of ion Coulomb crystals in a linear Paul trap with storage-ring-like confinement. The transverse dynamics of charged particles in a trap of this type is analogous to that of a fast beam traveling through a channel with periodic, magnetic alternating gradient confinement. The experimentally observed stability conditions for stationary crystals comply remarkably well with current theory of crystalline plasmas and beams.
- Received 9 April 2002
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.66.015401
©2002 American Physical Society