Dust particles influence on a stratified glow discharge

Abstract

In this work, the correlations between the parameters of a DC glow discharge and dust particles in a lowtemperatureplasma is studied. The formation of voids inside the dust cloud was studied, depending on thecharacteristics of the discharge (discharge pressure, type of gas and discharge current) and dust particles(quantity and size). We have demonstrated that the ion drag force could lead to the formation of voids inthe center of the cloud of dust grains, which levitate in the field of a stratified positive column. It has alsobeen demonstrated that the accumulation of dust particles affects the discharge plasma in a non-local way,i.e., the density distribution of dust grains and the charge of each individual particle depend on the plasmaparameters outside the dust cloud. The presented qualitative estimates are important for understanding theprocesses occurring in complex plasma of a glow discharge

Keywords

• dusty plasma
• stratified glow discharge
• voids in dusty plasma
• boltzmann equation for electron distribution function