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Preservation of a Dust Crystal as it Falls in an Afterglow Plasma
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Preservation of a Dust Crystal as it Falls in an Afterglow Plasma

Neeraj Chaubey and J. Goree
Frontiers in physics, Vol.10, 879092
05/20/2022
DOI: 10.3389/fphy.2022.879092
url
https://doi.org/10.3389/fphy.2022.879092View
Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

In an experiment, the power that sustains a plasma was extinguished, so that microspheres, which had been levitated, fell downward toward a lower electrode. At the beginning of their fall, the microspheres were self-organized with a crystalline structure. This structure was found to be preserved as the microspheres accelerated all the way to the lower electrode. Although microspheres had, in this afterglow plasma, large positive charges of 12,500 e, their interparticle repulsion was unable to significantly alter the crystalline arrangement of the microspheres, as they fell. After their impact on the lower electrode, the microspheres bounced upward, and only then was the crystalline structure lost.
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY afterglow plasma bounce charging complex plasma crystalline structure dusty plasma microspheres strongly coupled plasma

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