Rf-induced persistent long-range ordered structures in two-species ion Coulomb crystals in a linear Paul trap

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We report on the observations of three-dimensional long-range ordered structures in the central ⁴⁰Ca+ ion component of ⁴⁰Ca+--⁴⁴Ca+ two-species ion Coulomb crystals in a linear Paul trap. In contrast to long-range ordering previously observed in single species crystals, the structures observed are strikingly persistent and always of one specific type in one particular orientation. Molecular dynamics simulations strongly indicate that these characteristics are a hitherto unpredicted consequence of the co-axial cylindrical symmetry of the central ion component of the Coulomb crystal and the radio frequency quadrupole trapping field.