E. S. Dzlieva

The effect of a longitudinal magnetic field on the plasma-dust structures in strata in a glow discharge

The plasma-dust structures in strata in a glow discharge exposed to a longitudinal magnetic field are studied in detail. In a weakly ordered structure, the angular velocity has a vertical gradient. A reversal of rotation of the structure in a magnetic field corresponding to the magnetization of electrons is found. With the help of the pair distribution function of particles, changes in the degree of order of the structure in the magnetic field are revealed. These changes correlate with changes in the angular velocity of rotation. To explain this effect, it is assumed that the dust structure is subjected to the action of ions in crossed electric and magnetic fields.

The onset of rotational motion of dusty plasma structures in strata of a glow discharge in a magnetic field

An interpretation is given to the previously observed action of a magnetic field on the state of a dusty plasma structure in strata of a glow discharge. The conditions of previous experiments are analyzed, in which a nonuniform rotation and a change in the degree of order of a dusty plasma structure (the translational order), as well as a correlation between them, were revealed. Based on this analysis and on data in the literature on dusty plasmas in a magnetic field, a hypothesis is made that the reason for the rotation of the structure is the ion drag force. Additional experiments on the observation of the onset of rotational motion of a structure in “weak” and “strong” magnetic fields are conducted. It is shown that rotation reversal (and rearrangement of the order of the structure) is caused by changes in the direction of ionic flows—from internal regions of the structure to its periphery and vice versa—in the weak and strong magnetic fields. The results obtained agree qualitatively with the hypothesis adopted, as well as with the data of the two-dimensional theory of strata.

On the hypothesis of gas rotation in the magnetomechanical effect

This study continues a cycle of works published in Optika i Spektroskopiya (Optics and Spectroscopy) on the magnetomechanical effect in a gas discharge. It is devoted to the hypothesis of the appearance of a torque acting on an object placed in a gas discharge in a magnetic field and arising due to the momentum transfer from the rotating neutral gas. The velocities of gas rotation required for the formation of the observed moment of forces are estimated. Measurements of the velocities performed using laser Doppler anemometry are analyzed. The method of observing dust structures in a magnetic field to reveal gas rotation is justified. Corresponding experiments with the use of the method of optical visualization for the observation of plasma-dust structures are conducted. The experimental dependence ω(r) obtained for a liquidlike structure is not consistent with the hypothesis of the transfer of rotation from the gas. Additional observations of dust plasma upon tilting of the discharge tube in the gravitational field are conducted. It is found that, in this case, the structure shifts from the central region of the stratum to the periphery and the rotation ceases. Neither the analysis nor the experiments performed in this study are consistent with the hypothesis of gas rotation in the magnetomechanical effect. The results of the experiments with dust structures are of independent interest for the physics of dust plasma.

Study of the magnetomechanical effect in a gas discharge with the use of dust particles

This paper reports on a test using laser Doppler anemometry of the hypothesis that the magnetomechanical effect involves rotation of the plasma of the positive gas-discharge column in an axial magnetic field. This was done by measuring the velocities of the dust macroparticles dropping in a vertical discharge tube. No rotation of the gas was revealed at a sensitivity of 40 cm/s. The rotation of dust particles suspended in striations and in the trap near the narrowed region of the discharge in a magnetic field was observed. The possible connection of this rotation with the magnetomechanical effect is discussed.

Ordered dust structures in a glow discharge

Highly ordered three-dimensional dust structures are created in a striated glow discharge, and their horizontal cross-sectional images are analyzed. Calculated correlation functions, local correlation parameters, and corresponding approximations are used to classify the state of a structure according to the Kosterlitz-Thouless-Halperin-Nelson-Young (KTHNY) two-dimensional melting theory and a phenomenological approach. An orientational map based on an orientational parameter is proposed to expose domains in a cross section of a structure. It is shown that a plasma crystal is a polycrystal consisting of hexagonal domains (crystallites). Thermophoretic forces are used to create corners of various angles in the perimeter of the structure. Transition between hexagonal and square cell shapes is observed.

Application of probing dusty particles to investigation of a stratified discharge with dusty plasma structures in a magnetic field

Experimental investigation of a stratified discharge in a magnetic field with the help of probe dusty particles falling through the discharge under the gravity force is described. The radial and azimuthal accelerations of probe particles in the stratum volume are measured. It is found that the particles move in the stratum without accelerations except in two regions. In the first region, the acceleration has two components directed toward the tube axis and upward, whereas, in the second region, they are directed toward the tube wall and downward.

Control of ion drag in a dusty plasma

A method of the control of the ion drag force acting on a dust particle in a complex plasma by choosing the composition of the gas mixture of a discharge has been proposed and experimentally implemented. The addition of a heavier additive with a lower ionization potential to the light buffer gas changes the ion composition and velocity of the ion flow. As a result, the ion drag force changes significantly. The experiments have been performed with the discharge in a helium-xenon mixture in a magnetic field. The measured angular rotation velocity of the dusty structure is in agreement with the numerical estimate of the ion drag force varying (increasing) in the presence of small (<5%) xenon additive. The proposed method can be used to create plasma crystals with new properties.

Detection of eddy current in the striation

The dynamics of the dust structures created in striations in the glow discharge in a magnetic field has a complex character which is shown in the inversion of the direction of the movement. The hypothesis of existence of eddy current in the striation which in the magnetic field causes the rotation of dust structures by means of the Ampere force has been offered and developed in the recent works of Nedospasov et al. and Dyachkov et al. In the present work, the experiment in which eddy current in various phases of striations is registered by means of probing dust particles is carried out. It is shown that for various discharge conditions and various magnetic fields the dragging by the rotating gas and the ion drag are the dominating forces defining the dynamics of dust structures in striations.

Analysis of the Size and Shape of Polydisperse Dust Particles in a Complex Glow Discharge Plasma

The size and shape factor distribution of levitating particles is studied by the method of extraction of dust particles from the discharge chamber. Two dust traps existing in a glow discharge in the strata and above the lower wall of the tube near the bend in the current channel are investigated separately. It is found that the size distribution of polydisperse particles of an arbitrary shape is of the bimodal type due to simultaneous levitation of particles with two shape factors. Polydisperse spherical particles of any size exhibit levitation due to the separation of particles over the wall thickness. For identical parameters of the discharge, the size of the particle in neon is slightly larger than in krypton; the particle size in the trap located in a stratum is substantially larger than the particle size in the trap above the wall of the discharge tube. Precision determination of the shape and size of particles makes it possible to estimate the electric field strength for dust traps. It is shown that the glow discharge can be used as a tool for separation of dust particles in a wide range of their sizes.

Properties of dust-plasma structures formed in a glow discharge above the lower wall of the discharge chamber

The properties are studied of dusty plasma structures formed in a glow discharge in a dust trap above the lower wall of the side branch of the discharge tube, near the turn of the discharge channel. The dust structure is three-dimensional with a characteristic size of up to 3 cm and contains about 30000 dust grains. Depending on the experimental conditions, dust-acoustic, dissipative, and charge-gradient instabilities can develop in such a structure. When using highly polydisperse dust grains of arbitrary shape, the effect of selection of dust grains by the plasma with respect to their mean size and shape was discovered. This effect was studied quantitatively in two gases by using the method of gathering and extraction of the dust grains levitating in the trap. The morphology of the dust structures was determined from the pair correlation functions of the horizontal cross sections containing long-range order peaks and elements of a hexagonal lattice. Stratification of a uniform structure accompanied by convective rotation caused by the grain charge gradient was observed. Applications of the dusty plasma created in this type of device are discussed.