Wigner crystal

plural Wigner crystals

1. condensed matter physicsA solid crystalline phase of electrons that forms when the electron density is sufficiently low.

   The Wigner crystal, or the electron crystal [Wigner (1934)], corresponds to the crystallization of the electron liquid, where the size of the packet that corresponds to the particle localization is smaller than the average distance between particles.

   2012, Janusz Jacak, Ryszard Gonczarek, Lucjan Jacak, Ireneus Jóźwiak, Application of Braid Groups in 2D Hall System Physics, World Scientific, page 46

   2 more examples

   2013, Yehuda B. Band, Yshai Avishai, Quantum Mechanics with Applications to Nanotechnology and Information Science, Elsevier (Academic Press), page 816, 3D Wigner crystals have not been observed experimentally. In addition to the difficulties in achieving low density, a Wigner crystal, once created, is not stable against various perturbations.

   If several ions are trapped in an ion trap and are cooled by optical sideband cooling, a "phase transition" may occur at the temperature T#95;C where the ions arrange into a stable, spatially symmetric configuration like a crystal [1235—1238]. The distances between these ions in this Wigner crystal are about 10³-10⁴ times larger than those in an ordinary ion crystal such as NaCl. Wigner crystals of electrons, where the electrons are located at certain regular positions in an external field, were first proposed by E. Wigner in 1934.

   2015, Wolfgang Demtröder, Laser Spectroscopy 2: Experimental Techniques, 5th edition, Springer, page 531

   Synonyms: electron crystal