Spatial ordering of charge and spin in quasi one-dimensional Wigner molecules

TL;DR

This paper investigates how charge and spin arrange themselves in quasi-one-dimensional Wigner molecules within quantum dots, revealing size-dependent spatial and spin ordering patterns through configuration interaction calculations.

Contribution

It demonstrates that spin ordering in Wigner molecules depends on the number of electrons and the size of the quantum dot, highlighting the interplay between quantum confinement and electron interactions.

Findings

Spin polarization depends on electron number in large dots.

Small dots exhibit short-range spin order mainly due to Pauli exclusion.

Large dots show Wigner crystallization with long-range spin order.

Abstract

ew-electron systems confined in quasi one-dimensional quantum dots are studied by the configuration interaction approach. We consider the parity symmetry of states forming Wigner molecules in large quantum dots and find that for the spin-polarized Wigner molecules it strictly depends on the number of electrons. We investigate the spatial spin-ordering in the inner coordinates of the quantum system and conclude that for small dots it has a short-range character and results mainly from the Pauli exclusion principle while the Wigner crystallization in large dots is accompanied by spin ordering over the entire length of the dot.