We investigated the mixing and segregation of a system consisting of two different species of particles, having different charges, interacting through a pure Coulomb potential, and confined in a three-dimensional parabolic trap. The structure of the cluster and its normal mode spectrum are analyzed as a function of the relative charge and the relative number of different types of particles. We found that (a) the system can be in a mixed or segregated state depending on the relative charge ratio parameter and (b) the segregation process is mediated by a first or second order structural phase transition which strongly influences the magic cluster properties of the system.

• Received 7 February 2011

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.83.041136