Original Paper

Dust Particle Alignments in a Plasma Sheath

  1. A. A. Samarian*,
  2. S. V. Vladimirov†

Article first published online: 28 MAY 2009

DOI: 10.1002/ctpp.200910026

Issue

Contributions to Plasma Physics

Contributions to Plasma Physics

Volume 49, Issue 4-5, pages 260–280, June 2009

Additional Information

How to Cite

Samarian, A. A. and Vladimirov, S. V. (2009), Dust Particle Alignments in a Plasma Sheath. Contrib. Plasma Phys., 49: 260–280. doi: 10.1002/ctpp.200910026

Author Information

  1. School of Physics, The University of Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia

  1. †

    URL: http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/vladimi, Phone: +61 2 9351 5770, Fax: +61 2 9351 7726

*Phone: +61 2 9351 5959, Fax: +61 2 9351 7726

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 28 MAY 2009
  2. Article first published online: 28 MAY 2009
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 3 MAR 2009
  4. Manuscript Received: 19 DEC 2008

Funded by

  • Australian Research Council

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Keywords:

  • Dust in plasma;
  • plasma wake;
  • transition;
  • controlling parameters;
  • rf discharge

Abstract

Stability of vertical and horizontal arrangement of dust particles levitating in an rf sheath are discussed. Disruptions of particle arrangements are triggered by changing the discharge controlling parameters (pressure and peak-to-peak voltage) as well as by applying an additional bias to the confining electrode or by a laser beam. It is established that the most important controlling parameter is the relative strength of the horizontal and the vertical confinements. The clear hysteretic phenomena are observed for the horizontal-vertical-horizontal transition cycle. This hysteretic behavior can be attributed to the stabilizing (for the vertical alignment) and destabilizing (for the horizontal alignment) influence of the plasma wake potential. The width of the hysteresis increases with decreasing pressure thus indicating on stronger influence of the wake phenomena for low pressures. The horizontal alignment instability at the critical confinement can provide a new diagnostic tool for determining the wake parameters (© 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

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