Stability of Coulomb crystals in a linear Paul trap with storage-ring-like confinement.

We report experiments on the stability of ion Coulomb crystals in a linear Paul trap with storage-ring-like confinement. The transverse dynamics of charged particles in a trap of this type is analogous to that of a fast beam traveling through a channel with periodic, magnetic alternating gradient confinement. The experimentally observed stability conditions for stationary crystals comply remarkably well with current theory of crystalline plasmas and beams.