Journal
NEW JOURNAL OF PHYSICS
Volume 20, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
IOP PUBLISHING LTD
DOI: 10.1088/1367-2630/aaf3d5
Keywords
nanofriction; topological defects; trapped ions; Coulomb crystals; discrete solitons
Categories
Funding
- DFG
Ask authors/readers for more resources
We study nanofriction in an ion Coulomb crystal under the presence of a topological defect. We have previously observed signatures of the pinning to sliding transition i.e. the symmetry breaking at the critical point and the existence of a vibrational soft mode. Here we discuss how they depend on the position of the topological defect and how external potentials, such as anharmonic trapping potentials or differential light pressure, can be used to change the defect position. The resulting forces tend to break the intrinsic crystal symmetry, thereby reducing mode softening near the transition. We show that the topological defect mode is sensitive to differential forces at the 10(-24) N level. We find that the local structure and position of the topological defect is essential for the presence of the soft mode and illustrate how the defect changes its properties, when it moves through the crystal.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available