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)