Heat transport through ion crystals

Abstract

We study the thermodynamical properties of crystals of trapped ions which are laser cooled to two different temperatures in two separate regions. We show that these properties strongly depend on the structure of the ion crystal. Such structure can be changed by varying the trap parameters and undergoes a series of phase transitions from linear to zig-zag or helicoidal configurations. Thus, we show that these systems are ideal candidates to observe and control the transition from anomalous to normal heat transport. All structures behave as ‘heat superconductors’, with a thermal conductivity increasing linearly with system size and a vanishing thermal gradient inside the system. However, zig-zag and helicoidal crystals turn out to be hyper sensitive to disorder having a linear temperature profile and a length independent conductivity. Interestingly, disordered 2D ion crystals are heat insulators. Sensitivity to disorder is much smaller in the 1D case.