Modulation of Void Motion Behavior in a Magnetized Dusty Plasma

Based on fluid equations,we show a time-dependent self-consistent nonlinear model for void formation in magnetized dusty plasmas.The cylindrical configuration is applied to better illustrate the effects of the static magnetic field,considering the azimuthal motion of the dusts.The nonlinear evolution of the dust void and the rotation of the dust particles are then investigated numerically.The results show that,similar to the unmagnetized one-dimensional model,the radial ion drag plays a crucial role in the evolution of the void.Moreover,the dust rotation is driven by the azimuthal ion drag force exerting on the dust.As the azimuthal component of ion velocity increases linearly with the strength of the magnetic field,the azimuthal component of dust velocity increases synchronously.Moreover,the angular velocity gradients of the dust rotation show a sheared dust flow around the void.     

The onset of rotational motion of dusty plasma structures in strata of a glow discharge in a magnetic field

An interpretation is given to the previously observed action of a magnetic field on the state of a dusty plasma structure in strata of a glow discharge. The conditions of previous experiments are analyzed, in which a nonuniform rotation and a change in the degree of order of a dusty plasma structure (the translational order), as well as a correlation between them, were revealed. Based on this analysis and on data in the literature on dusty plasmas in a magnetic field, a hypothesis is made that the reason for the rotation of the structure is the ion drag force. Additional experiments on the observation of the onset of rotational motion of a structure in “weak” and “strong” magnetic fields are conducted. It is shown that rotation reversal (and rearrangement of the order of the structure) is caused by changes in the direction of ionic flows—from internal regions of the structure to its periphery and vice versa—in the weak and strong magnetic fields. The results obtained agree qualitatively with the hypothesis adopted, as well as with the data of the two-dimensional theory of strata.     

The effect of a longitudinal magnetic field on the plasma-dust structures in strata in a glow discharge

The plasma-dust structures in strata in a glow discharge exposed to a longitudinal magnetic field are studied in detail. In a weakly ordered structure, the angular velocity has a vertical gradient. A reversal of rotation of the structure in a magnetic field corresponding to the magnetization of electrons is found. With the help of the pair distribution function of particles, changes in the degree of order of the structure in the magnetic field are revealed. These changes correlate with changes in the angular velocity of rotation. To explain this effect, it is assumed that the dust structure is subjected to the action of ions in crossed electric and magnetic fields.     

Dusty plasma structures in magnetic fields in a dc discharge

The formation of dusty plasma structures has been experimentally investigated in a cylindrical dc discharge in axial magnetic fields up to 2500 G. The rotation of the dusty plasma structures about the discharge symmetry axis with a frequency depending on the magnetic field has been observed. When the field increases to 700 G, the displacement of dust particles from the axial region of the discharge to the periphery, along with the continuation of the rotation, has been observed. The kinetic temperatures of the dust particles, the diffusion coefficients, and the effective nonideality parameter have been determined for various magnetic fields. The explanation of the features in the behavior of the dust particles in the discharge in the magnetic field has been proposed on the basis of the analysis of ambipolar diffusion in the magnetized plasma. The maximum magnetic field at which the levitation of the dust particles in the discharge is possible has been estimated.     

Dust Self‐Organized Structures I. Role of Ion Drag and Ion Diffusion on Screened Grains

Self‐organized dust structures are investigated using a Gurevich‐Parker model for non‐linear dust screening. The non‐linear dust drag coefficients and non‐linear diffusion coefficients are calculated numerically as functions of nonlinear parameter for screening, dust density and ion flux drift velocity. Nonlinear ion dust drag inside the structures creates an electric field with potential well for ions at the structure center. The equilibrium dust structures confine both the dust grains and the plasma particles, have a finite size and have inside an enhanced dust and ion densities. The necessary conditions for existence of equilibrium dust structures are found. The equilibrium dust structures are determined by two global parameters related to the external plasma flux and to the power of ionization. The equilibrium exist only in a restricted phase space of these two parameters and depends on the the drag coefficient at the structure center. The equilibrium requirements are found using non‐linear drag coefficient calculated numerically. It is shown that this phase space area can be broad but it is systematically decreasing with an increase of the ionization rate. It is found that equilibrium exists for dust structures with large dust and ion density concentration at the center and that for these structures the ion diffusion is strongly suppressed by ion scattering on non‐linearly screened grains. The results of the theory can be used to interpret the recently observed compact dust structures in micro‐gravity experiments and can provide some recommendations for future micro‐gravity experiments in spherical chambers (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Rigid and differential plasma crystal rotation induced by magnetic fields

Observations show that plasma crystals, suspended in the sheath of a radio-frequency discharge, rotate under the influence of a vertical magnetic field. Depending on the discharge conditions, two different cases are observed: a rigid-body rotation (all the particles move with a constant angular velocity) and sheared rotation (the angular velocity of particles has a radial distribution). When the discharge voltage is increased sufficiently, the particles may even reverse their direction of motion. A simple analytical model is used to explain qualitatively the mechanism of the observed particle motion and its dependence on the confining potential and discharge conditions. The model takes into account electrostatic, ion drag, neutral drag, and effective interparticle interaction forces. For the special case of rigid-body rotation, the confining potential is reconstructed. Using data for the radial dependence of particle rotation velocity, the shear stresses are estimated. The critical shear stress at which shear-induced melting occurs is used to roughly estimate the shear elastic modulus of the plasma crystal. The latter is also used to estimate the viscosity contribution due to elasticity in the plasma liquid. Further development is suggested in order to quantitatively implement these ideas.     

The Behavior of Dust Particles Near Langmuir Probe

In the present work the dynamics of dust particles near electric probe in gas discharge at different pressures was studied. Trajectories of dust particles near electric probe with taking into account of the ion drag force and neutral friction force were calculated numerically. The comparisons between experimental and calculated results showed the good agreement (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Directional motion of dust particles at different gear structures in a plasma

Directional motion of dust particles in a dusty plasma ratcnet is observed experimentally.The dusty plasma ratcnet consists of two concentric gears with asymmetric sawtooth.It is found that the sawtooth number affects the directional motion of dust particles along the saw channel.With the inerease of the sawtooth number,the particle velocity increases firstly and then decreases,and there is an optimum number of the sawtooth which could induce fast rotation of dust particles.The velocities of dust particles change as they are flowing along the saw channel.We also explore the force acting on the dust particle experimentally.     

Theory of dust voids in plasmas

Dusty plasmas in a gas discharge often feature a stable void, i.e., a dust-free region inside the dust cloud. This occurs under conditions relevant to both plasma processing discharges and plasma crystal experiments. The void results from a balance of the electrostatic and ion drag forces on a dust particle. The ion drag force is driven by a flow of ions outward from an ionization source and toward the surrounding dust cloud, which has a negative space charge. In equilibrium the force balance for dust particles requires that the boundary with the dust cloud be sharp, provided that the particles are cold and monodispersive. Numerical solutions of the one-dimensional nonlinear fluid equations are carried out including dust charging and dust-neutral collisions, but not ion-neutral collisions. The regions of parameter space that allow stable void equilibria are identified. There is a minimum ionization rate that can sustain a void. Spatial profiles of plasma parameters in the void are reported. In the absence of ion-neutral collisions, the ion flow enters the dust cloud's edge at Mach number M=1. Phase diagrams for expanding or contracting voids reveal a stationary point corresponding to a single stable equilibrium void size, provided the ionization rate is constant. Large voids contract and small voids expand until they attain this stationary void size. On the other hand, if the ionization rate is not constant, the void size can oscillate. Results are compared to recent laboratory and microgravity experiments.     

On the mechanism of own rotation of dust particles

We analyze the physical reason for own rotation of dust particles. We propose from analysis of literature data and our previous studies that own rotation of dust particles is due to azimuth-symmetric flow of ions to the particle surface, which is associated with a nonuniform distribution of the surface charge. This assumption is in conformity with the results of experiments in which the plasma flow is changed by introducing particles in the horizontal plane (horizontal cluster) and particles aligned along the discharge current (vertical cluster) and with the observation of the rotation threshold for the discharge current and the magnetic field. The experiments are performed with spherical particles using the coordinate tracing method. Our results make it possible to construct a model of spinning of charged dust tops for describing magnetic properties of a complex plasma.     

Resonant scattering of ions on charged dust particles

Resonant scattering ("scattering through waves") of ions on dust particles in plasmas is considered in the framework of the kinetic theory which consistently takes into account ion-dust collisions and dust charge fluctuations. Resonance with low frequency dusty plasma modes can enhance the ion-dust scattering cross section and the ion drag force on dust particles.     

Rotational properties of annulus dusty plasma in a strong magnetic field

The collective dynamics of an annulus dusty plasma formed between a co-centric conducting (non-conducting) disk and ring configuration is studied in a strongly magnetized radiofrequency (rf) discharge. A superconducting electromagnet is used to introduce a homogeneous magnetic field to the dusty plasma medium. In the absence of the magnetic field, the dust grains exhibit thermal motion around their equilibrium position. The dust grains start to rotate in the anticlockwise direction with increasing magnetic field (B > 0.02 T ), and the constant value of the angular frequency at various strengths of the magnetic field confirms the rigid body rotation. The angular frequency of dust grains linearly increases up to a threshold magnetic field (B > 0.6 T ) and after that its value remains nearly constant in a certain range of magnetic field. Further increase in magnetic field (B > 1 T ) lowers the angular frequency. Low value of the angular frequency is expected by reducing the width of the annulus dusty plasma or the input rf power. The azimuthal ion drag force due to the magnetic field is assumed to be the energy source which drives the rotational motion. The resultant radial electric field in the presence of a magnetic field determines the direction of rotation. The variation of floating (plasma) potential across the annular region at given magnetic field explains the rotational properties of the annulus dusty plasma in the presence of a magnetic field.     

A particle-in-cell simulation of dust charging and shielding in lowpressure glow discharges

The transport of particles (“dust”) in low pressure electrical glow discharges is being studied in regard to its role in contaminating silicon wafers during plasma etching and deposition. Particles (10 s nm-μm) negatively charge in glow discharges and, to first order, appear to be massively large negative ions around which sheaths develop. The forces on particles in plasmas include electrostatic (drift of charged particles in electric fields) and viscous ion drag. The latter force is momentum transfer from ions to particles by either collisions or orbital motion. This force critically depends on the charge on the particle and the shape of the sheath surrounding the particle. In this work, we report on a pseudoparticle-in-cell (PIC) simulation of the transport of electrons and ions in the vicinity of dust particles in low pressure glow discharges. The simulation produces the electrical charge on the dust particle, the sheath structure around the dust particle and the orbital dynamics of the ions. A companion molecular dynamics simulation uses these parameters to produce ion-dust and electron-dust particle cross sections for momentum transfer and collection. Results will be discussed for charge, sheath thickness, cross sections and viscous ion drag forces on dust particles as a function of radius and plasma parameters     

Charge and structures of dust particles in a gas discharge at cryogenic temperatures

A dusty plasma in a dc gas discharge is considered at low (cryogenic) temperatures of the gas. The formation of dusty plasma structures consisting of monodisperse poly(styrene) particles (d = 5.44 μm) in a dc glow discharge is experimentally investigated at cryogenic temperatures in the range from 4.2 to 77 K, and the results obtained are presented. The ion velocity distribution function and the charging of dust particles at cryogenic temperatures are calculated using the molecular dynamics method. The primary attention is focused on the correct inclusion of ion-atom collisions in the analysis. This is essential to the understanding of the main mechanisms of the experimentally observed increase in the density of dust particles with decreasing temperature of the gas in the discharge.     

Coulomb scatter of diamagnetic dust particles in a cusp magnetic trap under microgravity conditions

The effect of a dc electric field on strongly nonideal Coulomb systems consisting of a large number (~10⁴) of charged diamagnetic dust particles in a cusp magnetic trap are carried out aboard the Russian segment of the International Space Station (ISS) within the Coulomb Crystal experiment. Graphite particles of 100–400 μm in size are used in the experiments. Coulomb scatter of a dust cluster and the formation of threadlike chains of dust particles are observed experimentally. The processes observed are simulated by the molecular dynamics (MD) method.     

Ion Heating in Dusty Plasma of Noble Gas Mixtures

Ion heating in dusty plasma of noble gas mixtures is studied by the observation of dust particles in stratified glow discharge. The particles and their formations can be used as a “contact‐free” probe of the ion flows. It is shown that under condition of experiments transition of dust particles into crystalline state in pure gases occur at much lower pressures in comparison to the case of gas mixtures. This observation is also supported by the evaluation of “effective” kinetic temperature of dust particles as defined from the velocity distribution function at the same set of discharge parameters. Absolute value of temperature of dust component in the mixture of helium and argon indicates important role of argon ionization process (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Self-Rotation of Dust Particles in Induction-Type RF Discharge

Technical Physics - Self-rotation (rotation about the center of mass) of dust particles in a magnetic field has been investigated. The angular velocity of self-rotation in a dust trap produced by...     

聚变等离子体中尘埃杂质的带电和运动特性及温度变化研究

研究了在磁约束聚变环境中不同等离子体参数下尘埃粒子的带电、运动及温度特性.研究表明:电子温度与离子温度比对尘埃带电量有明显的影响;二次电子发射会显著减少尘埃带电量;尘埃充电的弛豫时间比在实验室加工等离子中要短得多.在考虑离子拖曳力作用下,尘埃粒子的速度可达102m·s-1的量级;针对碳材料计算得到粒子的寿命达毫秒量级.这些数值研究结果与实验观测结果相一致.     

Dusty plasma in the stratified glow discharge in moderate magnetic field

This article presents the experimental study of dust structures formed in striations of glow discharge in an external magnetic field of up to 10⁴ G, which was created using a cryomagnet. A magnetic field classification based on probe theory is described. In moderate magnetic field, we obtained stable dust structures. The corresponding experimental setup and the experiment itself are described in detail. Special attention was paid to the influence of magnetic field on the change of the diameter and inter‐particle distance of dusty cloud. And, we also determined the dependence of angular velocity of dust rotation on magnetic induction.