Order-disorder transition in nanoscopic semiconductor quantum rings

Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 3128 (2001) Using the path integral Monte Carlo technique we show that semiconductor quantum rings with up to six electrons exhibit a temperature, ring diameter, and particle number dependent transition between spin ordered and disordered Wigner crystals. Due to the small number of particles the transition extends over a broad temperature range and is clearly identifiable from the electron pair correlation functions.