Successive Generations of Dust in Complex Plasmas: A Cyclic Phenomenon in the Void Region

Journal Article · Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 EST 2008 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVLETT.100.045001· OSTI ID:21024660

Cavarroc, Marjorie; Mikikian, Maxime; Tessier, Yves; Boufendi, Laiefa ^[1]

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1. GREMI, Groupe de Recherches sur l'Energetique des Milieux Ionises, UMR 6606 CNRS/Universite d'Orleans, 14 rue d'Issoudun, BP 6744, 45067 Orleans cedex 2 (France)

Dust formation and growth in plasmas are in most cases continuous cyclic phenomena. We show that the growth of new dust generations takes place in a dust-free region, usually called a void, in the dust cloud. The three-step process of new dust generation is detailed thanks to the correlation between electrical, optical, and ex situ diagnostics. The strong inhomogeneity of both the plasma and the dust cloud during this process is underlined.

• OSTI ID: 21024660
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Vol. 100, Issue 4; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.100.045001; (c) 2008 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0031-9007
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
DUSTS
GRAIN GROWTH
INHOMOGENEOUS PLASMA
PLASMA DIAGNOSTICS
VOIDS