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Experimental determination of phase transitions by means of configurational entropies in finite Yukawa balls

Matthias Mulsow and André Melzer
Phys. Rev. E 96, 053202 – Published 9 November 2017

Abstract

The phase transition of finite Yukawa balls (ordered systems of microspheres in a gaseous plasma environment) with less than 100 particles is studied experimentally by means of configurational entropies. We have developed cylindrical two- and three-particle-correlation functions to measure these entropies for multiple cluster sizes over a wide temperature range. The cluster temperature is finely tuned using a stochastic laser heating setup. It is shown that the correlation functions give a detailed insight into the structural properties of the cluster. The derived configurational entropies give a clear indication of the transition temperature from a solid-like to a fluid-like state. Comparing the transition temperatures of different sized clusters it is found that the transition temperature increases with cluster size in general agreement with theoretical predictions.

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  • Received 19 September 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.96.053202

©2017 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Plasma PhysicsStatistical Physics & Thermodynamics

Authors & Affiliations

Matthias Mulsow and André Melzer

  • Institut für Physik, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität Greifswald, 17489 Greifswald, Germany

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Issue

Vol. 96, Iss. 5 — November 2017

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