Transport and trapping of dust particles in a potential well created by inductively coupled diffused plasma

TL;DR

This paper presents a new linear dusty plasma device that uses a novel technique to trap dust particles in a potential well, enabling detailed study of dust transport, waves, and instabilities in plasma physics.

Contribution

The paper introduces a versatile plasma device with a novel dust introduction method and precise control over dust cloud volume for advanced plasma physics experiments.

Findings

Dust particles are effectively trapped in an electrostatic potential well.

The device allows precise control of dust cloud volume.

Preliminary results demonstrate successful dust transport and trapping.

Abstract

A versatile linear dusty (complex) plasma device is designed to study the transport and dynamical behavior of dust particles in a large volume. Diffused inductively coupled plasma is generated in the background of argon gas. A novel technique is used to introduce the dust particles in the main plasma by striking a secondary direct current (DC) glow discharge. These dust particles are found to get trapped in an electrostatic potential well which is formed due to the combination of the ambipolar electric field caused by diffusive plasma and the field produced by the charged glass wall of the vacuum chamber. According to the requirements, the volume of the dust cloud can be controlled very precisely by tuning the plasma and discharge parameters. The present device can be used to address the underlying physics behind the transport of dust particles, self excited dust acoustic waves and instabilities. The detailed design of this device, plasma production and characterization, trapping and transport of the dust particle and some of the preliminary experimental results are presented.