Direct observation of Coulomb crystals and liquids in strongly coupled rf dusty plasmas
- 20 June 1994
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Physical Society (APS) in Physical Review Letters
- Vol. 72 (25) , 4009-4012
- https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.72.4009
Abstract
The strongly coupled dusty plasmas are formed by suspending negatively charged fine particles with 10 μm diameter in weakly ionized rf Ar discharges. The Coulomb crystals and liquids are directly observed for the first time using an optical microscope. By properly controlling the system parameters, hexagonal, fcc and bcc crystal structures and solids with coexisting different crystal structures can be formed. Increasing the rf power causes the transition to the more disordered liquid state.
Keywords
This publication has 19 references indexed in Scilit:
- Phase transitions of dense systems of charged ‘‘dust’’ grains in plasmasApplied Physics Letters, 1992
- Observation of ordered structures of laser-cooled ions in a quadrupole storage ringPhysical Review Letters, 1992
- Transport of dust particles in glow-discharge plasmasPhysical Review Letters, 1992
- Observation of a Phase Transition of Stored Laser-Cooled IonsPhysical Review Letters, 1987
- ‘‘Ordered’’ structure in dilute suspensions of charged polymer latices as observed in the vertical planes and in mixtures of heavy and light watersThe Journal of Chemical Physics, 1986
- Layering transitions in colloidal crystals as observed by diffraction and direct-lattice imagingPhysical Review A, 1986
- Coulomb solid of small particles in plasmasPhysics of Fluids, 1986
- Strongly coupled plasmas: high-density classical plasmas and degenerate electron liquidsReviews of Modern Physics, 1982
- Single colloidal crystalsNature, 1979
- Electrodynamic Containment of Charged ParticlesJournal of Applied Physics, 1959