Rotation of a single vortex in dusty plasma

A single vortex is obtained in radio-frequency capacitive discharge in argon gas. The dust subsystem is confined in the horizontal plane with an asymmetrical saw structure placed on the lower electrode. The vortex rotates as a whole along the long side of the saw-teeth. Asymmetry of the saw structure plays an important role in the rotation of the vortex. Nonzero curl of the total force resulting from the local ion flow and the electric field in the plasma sheath could be attributed to the persistent rotation of vortex.     

Crystallization of a dusty plasma in the positive column of a glow discharge

The formation of macroscopic ordered structures in the standing striations of a stationary glow discharge in Ne is observed. A Coulomb quasicrystal is formed by spherical glass particles with diameters of 50–63 μm and charge Z _p~7·10⁵ e. The interparticle distance is approximately 300 μm. This corresponds to a nonideality parameter Γ~5·10⁴, which leads to crystallization in the Yukawa model. The factors leading to the formation of a quasicrystal in the striations are discussed. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 64, No. 2, 86–91 (25 July 1996)     

Pattern phenomena in an rf discharge dusty plasma system

Various dust patterns are observed in an rf discharge dusty plasma system. According to the dust growth process from small to large in size, the formation of different dust patterns can be divided into two stages: the small-particle stage (or dust cloud stage), and the large-particle stage (or dust crystal stage). The evolution relations between different dust patterns with gas pressure changing are investigated. Dust voids, dust acoustic waves and strong turbulence modes are presented at the small-particle stage. The self-organized dust lattices and dust clusters are investigated at the large-particle stage. The static structure of a dust lattice is characterized by means of the pair correlation function. Dust clusters formed by particles with different numbers and the regular evolution of the clusters with gas pressure are also investigated. The packing sequences of dust clusters are verified through two-dimensional confined molecular dynamics simulations.     

Effects of the dust size distribution in one-dimensional quantum dusty plasma

The effects of the dust size distribution in ultracold quantum dusty plasmas are investigated. The amplitude φ_m and width ω of quantum dust acoustic waves are studied with different dust size distributions in the system. The φ_m and ω of the quantum dust acoustic waves are found to increase as the total number density increases. The φ_m and ω are greater for unusual dusty plasmas than for typical dusty plasmas. Moreover, as the Fermi temperature of the dust grains increases, the φ_m of the wave decreases. The ω of quantum dust acoustic waves increases as the speed u₀ of the wave increases.     

Experimental observation of dust circulation in unmagnetized cogenerated dusty plasma

The vortex motion of a dust cloud was experimentally observed in unmagnetized cogenerated dusty plasma in different experimental parameters. Particle image velocimetry analysis demonstrated that several vortex zones exist in the dust cloud at relatively low pressures (0.06 mbar (or 6 Pa)–0.08 mbar (or 8 Pa)) and low discharge voltages (peak‐to‐peak voltage 540–560 V), whereas in relatively high pressure (0.4 mbar (or 40 Pa)–0.7 mbar (or 70 Pa)) and high discharge voltage (peak‐to‐peak voltage 690–740 V), dust vortices formed in dense dust cloud with background plasma fluctuation.     

Impurity-induced local modes in one-dimensional dusty plasma chains

The effects of impurity on eigenmodes in one-dimensional dusty plasma lattices are studied.It is found that local modes can be excited besides lattice waves,due to the existence of an impurity particle.The dispersion relations of the modes are derived accordingly.Properties of the lattice and local modes are also analyzed and discussed,particularly for their symmetric features and conditions of the mode excitation.     

Quantitative simulations of ratchet potential in a dusty plasma ratchet

Using a dusty plasma ratchet, one can realize the rectification of charged dust particle in a plasma. To obtain the ratchet potential dominating the rectification, here we perform quantitative simulations based on a two-dimensional fluid model of capacitively coupled plasma. Plasma parameters are firstly calculated in two typical cross sections of the dusty plasma ratchet which cut vertically the saw channel at different azimuthal positions. The balance positions of charged dust particle in the two cross sections then can be found exactly. The electric potentials at the two balance positions have different values. Using interpolation in term of a double-sine function from previous experimental measurement, an asymmetrical ratchet potential along the saw channel is finally obtained. The asymmetrical orientation of the ratchet potential depends on discharge conditions. Quantitative simulations further reproduce our previous experimental phenomena such as the rectification of dust particle in the dusty plasma ratchet.     

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.     

Fluid model of the positive column in argon‐oxygen direct current glow discharge

The positive column of argon‐oxygen direct current (DC) glow discharge was investigated using a fluid model at pressures of around 410 Pa and discharge currents from 10 to 40 mA. The model was used to study the influence of an oxygen admixture on the properties of argon discharge. The simulated intensity of the electric field strength was compared with measured values at 5% and 100% of oxygen concentration. The one‐dimensional model in a cylindrical tube is based on the drift‐diffusion approximation of particle flux and the mean‐electron‐energy approximation is used to describe the electron interaction. The model takes into account the radial profile of particle concentration, the neutral gas kinetic temperature profile, and interactions with the wall in the cylindrical glass discharge tube. It was shown that 2% of the oxygen admixture causes a significant increase in longitudinal electric field strength and gas heating.     

Measurement of temperature of a dusty plasma from its configuration

A new concept called “configurational temperature” is introduced in the context of dusty plasma, where the temperature of the dust particles submerged in the plasma can be measured directly from the positional information of the individual dust particles and the interaction potential between the dust grains. This method does not require the velocity information of individual particles, which is a key parameter to measure the dust temperature in the conventional method. The technique is initially tested using two-dimensional (2D) OpenMP parallel molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo simulation and then compared with the temperature evaluated from experimental data. The experiment have been carried out in the Dusty Plasma Experimental (DPEx) device, where a 2D stationary plasma crystal of melamine formaldehyde particles is formed in the cathode sheath of a DC glow discharge argon plasma. The kinetic temperature of the dust is calculated using the standard particle image velocimetry technique at different pressures. An extended simulation result for the three-dimensional case is also presented, which can be employed for the temperature measurement of a three-dimensional dust crystal in laboratory devices.     

Structure and phase transition of a two—dimensional dusty plasma

The structure and phase transition of a two-dimensional (2D) dusty plasma have been investigated in detail bymolecular dynamics simulation. Pair correlation function, static structure factor, mean square displacement, and bondangle correlation function have been calculated to characterize the structural properties. The variation of internalenergy, shear modulus, particle trajectories and structural properties with temperature has been monitored to studythe phase transition of the 2D dusty plasma system. The simulation results are in favour of a two-step continuoustransition for this kind of plasma.     

非均匀磁场尘埃等离子体中颗粒的复杂运动

本文研究了在非均匀磁场尘埃等离子体中不规则尘埃颗粒的复杂运动, 包括圆滚运动、尖头圆滚运动、圆周运动以及波浪运动等. 放置在电极上的圆柱形磁铁的主要作用是改变鞘层的径向分布, 进而对颗粒产生径向约束, 使尘埃颗粒悬浮于圆柱形磁铁周围, 其磁场并不足以磁化颗粒使其做圆滚运动. 通过与球形尘埃颗粒的对比实验发现, 圆滚运动是不规则尘埃颗粒在等离子体中特有的一种运动. 我们提出了一种新的机理: 由于不规则颗粒的自旋而引起的横向反Magnus力对颗粒的圆滚运动起了重要的作用. 文中通过受力分析定性地对实验中观察到的非球形颗粒的各种运动给出了合理的解释.     

Radar studies of ionospheric dusty plasma phenomena

We discuss the influence of charged dust on radar observations in the Earth ionosphere. This region in the upper Earth atmosphere can be described as a partially ionized, low‐temperature plasma. Plasma parameters vary by orders of magnitude spatially and in time. Dust particles influence the charge balance, in some cases dusty plasma condition is met. The polar mesospheric echoes are an example of dust plasma interactions observed with radar. The mesosphere is a region where atmospheric temperature decreases with altitude and can reach frost point temperature. The formation of the polar mesospheric radar echoes involves neutral atmosphere dynamics, which is latitude dependent and it involves charged dust particles, especially icy dust that forms in the polar summer mesosphere. Charged dust can also influence incoherent scatter that results from electromagnetic waves scattering off electrons, where the electrons are coupled to other charged components. Observers rarely report charged dust signatures in the incoherent scatter spectra; we show that there is a good chance for doing so with improved observations. The incoherent scatter can possibly also be used to estimate the amount of charged dust in the direct vicinity of a meteor, as we show based on the order of magnitude considerations. This prospect of new observational results makes theoretical investigations of radio‐wave scattering in the presence of charged dust with size distributions worthwhile.     

The effect of magnetic field on plasma particles in dusty plasma

In this work, we present the investigation of the formation features and internal structure of dust clouds created in plasma of glow discharge in the external magnetic field corresponding to a range of moderate and strong fields, at which the ion component is magnetized. The analysis of the plasma magnetization in the presence of dust components is carried out. We defined the values of magnetic induction at which the changes in dynamics of plasma particles in magnetic field in light inert gases are expected. The experimental setup was built in two versions. For the purpose of generating of magnetic field, the first setup was equipped with ordinary magnetic coils, and the second one included a superconducting solenoid. The discharge tubes, the main chambers where plasma was ignited and maintained in a glow discharge in lowered pressure, also have certain peculiarities, which we describe below. While using helium as a bulk gas, our study focused only on the dust trap in the region of narrowing discharge current. For neon, we used two traps: the striation trap and one just mentioned above placed in the narrowing of the discharge tube. As a result, the steady dust structures in a glow discharge under the magnetization of ions and electrons were obtained for the first time. Dust structures were rotated and tended to form a dust cluster and shell structure. A number of parameters of magnetization achieved in experiments were calculated.     

Effect of multicomponent dust grains in a cold quantum dusty plasma

By employing the quantum hydrodynamic model for electron-ion-dust plasma,we derive a dispersion relation of the quantum dusty plasma.The effects of the dust size distribution on the dispersion relation in a cold quantum dusty plasma are studied.Both analytical and numerical results are given to compare the differences between the dusty plasma by considering the dust size distribution and the mono-sized dusty plasma.It is shown that many system parameters can significantly influence the dispersion relation of the quantum dusty plasma.     

The effects of dust temperature and the dust charge variation in a dusty plasma with vortex—like ion distribution

By considering both the dust temperature and the dust charge variation in dusty plasma with vortex-like ion distribution, we obtained a modified Korteweg－de Vries equation. It indicates that the effect of dust charge variation can cause the one-dimensional soliton amplitude to become larger, and the dust temperature can cause the soliton amplitude to become larger as well. Moreover, as the dust temperature increases, the soliton amplitude will increase.     

Influence of gas pressure on the pattern evolutions of dust clusters and fractals in a dusty plasma system

Dusty plasma has been produced through chemical reaction in a capacitively coupled radio frequency (rf) discharge system. Dust clusters with a few particles and dust fractals are observed. As gas pressure is increased, the suspended height of dust particles descends and the average interparticle distance decreases accordingly. The influence of gas pressure on the pattern evolutions is investigated. Dust clusters or fractals not only can evolve regularly on a horizontal plane, but also can evolve from a horizontal plane to a vertical line array. Under appropriate conditions, the evolutions are reversible. When the evolution is from a symmetrical pattern with a centre particle to another pattern, the centre particle will first show its unsteadiness.