Dust levitation in an inverse sheath

TL;DR

This paper analyzes how negatively charged lunar dust particles can levitate in an inverse plasma sheath, balancing forces through ion-drag, with implications for lunar dust behavior in space environments.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed analysis of dust levitation in inverse sheaths, highlighting the role of ion-drag force in sustaining levitation in lunar plasma conditions.

Findings

Ion-drag force can balance electrostatic and gravitational forces for dust levitation.

Levitation distances from lunar surface are quantitatively estimated.

Conditions for dust lofting and levitation in space plasma environments are identified.

Abstract

The results of an analysis of the physics of levitation of negatively charged dust particles over a surface (wall) in an inverse sheath are reported. It is shown that under suitable parameter regime, the ion-drag force may balance the combined electrostatic and gravitational force on the dust particles owing to its hollow profile as one moves away from the surface. Our analysis shows that the parameter regimes in which such a situation may result is realizable in laboratory and space plasma environments, particularly the near-surface dayside lunar plasma. The lunar surface and dust grains are electrostatically charged due to the interaction with the solar wind plasma environment and the photoemission of electrons due to solar UV radiation. This results in a process that charges the surface positively and generates a near-surface photoelectron inverse plasma sheath. The potential structure changes from a monotonic classical sheath to an inverse sheath as the emitted electron density becomes larger than the plasma electron density. In a relatively newer, recently developed charging model, called the Patched Charge Model, it has shown both theoretically and experimentally that even in photoelectron-rich environment, dust particles lying on a regolith surface can attain large negative potential due to formation of micro cavities. This negative potential may reach such values so that dust mobilization and lofting may become possible. In our work, we have assumed the existence of such negatively charged dust particles in a photoelectron-rich environment and argue that once the dust lofting is effected, the levitation can be sustained through the ion-drag force. The conditions of levitation are investigated for these dust particles and the levitation distances from the lunar surface are calculated.