Charge on the dust in the plasma.

The grain in the plasma gets charged until the net plasma flux to the grain surface vanishes. In the absence of any analytical formula, this ambipolar condition is utilized to compute the grain charge indirectly. The present work proposes an approximate analytical expression for the grain charge that is exact in the asymptotic limit and in which the relative error between analytical and numerically computed solutions is less than 3%. Using this formula, we show that, much like the plasma sheath, the Bohm criterion is satisfied near the dust surface.

Dynamics of two particles in a plasma sheath.

The stability and arrangements of two dust particles in a plasma are investigated in terms of the Hamiltonian of the system. It is shown that the Hamiltonian description of a non-Hamiltonian system can be used to predict qualitative features of possible equilibria in a variety of confinement potentials and can provide useful plasma diagnostics. The results compare favorably with those of simulations and are used to create experimental hypotheses. In particular, the symmetry-breaking transition of the particles as they leave the horizontal plane admits a Hamiltonian description which is used to elucidate the wake parameters.

Residual dust charges in discharge afterglow.

An on-ground measurement of dust-particle residual charges in the afterglow of a dusty plasma was performed in a rf discharge. An upward thermophoretic force was used to balance the gravitational force. It was found that positively charged, negatively charged, and neutral dust particles coexisted for more than 1 min after the discharge was switched off. The mean residual charge for 200-nm-radius particles was measured. The dust particle mean charge is about -5e at a pressure of 1.2 mbar and about -3e at a pressure of 0.4 mbar .

Charge of a macroscopic particle in a plasma sheath.

Charging of a macroscopic body levitating in a rf plasma sheath is studied experimentally and theoretically. The nonlinear charge vs size dependence is obtained. The observed nonlinearity is explained on the basis of an approach taking into account different plasma conditions for the levitation positions of different particles. The importance of suprathermal electrons' contribution to the charging process is demonstrated.

Stability of particle arrangements in a complex plasma.

It is shown that the stability of the vertical and horizontal confinement of colloidal "dust" particles levitating in a complex plasma appears as a nontrivial interplay of the external confining forces as well as the interparticle interactions and plasma collective processes such as the wake formation.

Positively charged particles in dusty plasmas.

The trapping of dust particles has been observed in a dc abnormal glow discharge dominated by electron attachment. A dust cloud of several tens of positively charged particles was found to form in the anode sheath region. An analysis of the experimental conditions revealed that these particles were positively charged due to emission process, in contrast to most other experiments on the levitation of dust particles in gas-discharge plasmas where negatively charged particles are found. An estimate of the particle charge, taking into account the processes of photoelectron and secondary electron emission from the particle surface, is in agreement with the experimental measured values.

Self-excited vertical oscillations in an rf-discharge dusty plasma.

A self-excited vertical oscillation of dust grains in the sheath region of an rf-discharge plasma has been observed. The variation of amplitude with pressure and input power was measured. Dramatic increase of oscillation amplitude was found for pressures below 4.5 Pa. Possible excitation mechanisms are considered.