title: Electrostatic attraction of coupled Wigner crystals: finite temperature effects.
abstract: In this paper we present a unified physical picture for the electrostatic attraction between two coupled planar Wigner crystals at finite temperature. This model may facilitate our conceptual understanding of counterion-mediated attractions between (highly) similarly charged planes. By adopting an elastic theory, we show that the total attractive force between them can be (approximately) decomposed into a short-ranged and a long-ranged component. They are evaluated below the melting temperature of the Wigner crystals. In particular, we analyze the temperature dependence of the short-ranged attraction, arising from ground-state configuration, and we argue that thermal fluctuations may drastically reduce its strength. Also, the long-range force agrees exactly with that based on the charge-fluctuation approach. Furthermore, we take quantum contributions to the long-ranged (fluctuation-induced) attraction into account and show how the fractional power law, which scales as d(-7/2) for large interplanar distance d at zero temperature, crosses over to the classical regime d(-3) via an intermediate regime of d(-2).
authors: Laboratoire de Physique de la Matière Condensée, Collège de France, 11 Place Marcelin Berthelot, 75231 Paris 05, France.
authors: A W
authors: AW
authors: Lau
authors: P
authors: P
authors: Pincus
authors: D
authors: D
authors: Levine
authors: H A
authors: HA
authors: Fertig