Direct observation of dynamics of single spinning dust grains in weakly magnetized complex plasma

The rotational dynamics of single dust grains in a weak magnetic field is investigated on a kinetic level. Experiments reveal spin-up of spherical dust grains and alignment of their magnetic moments parallel to the magnetic induction vector. The angular velocity of spinning prolate grains varies as magnetic induction increases to 250 G. Spinning dust grains are found to flip over only when the magnetic field magnitude is changing. The results demonstrate that dusty plasma has paramagnetic properties. Qualitative interpretations are proposed to explain newly discovered phenomena.