Dust charging equation

Dust charging equation is defined as

dQd
=∑ I a
dt a

With
I a denotes the different currents entering and leaving the particles.

Thermal mean velocity of electron

8 KB Te
V th ( e )=
√ πme

Final potential

φd =φ s−V p
Where Vp is plasma potential

φ s → Dust particle surface potential which is negative relatively to the plasma

dQ d
=I i −I e=0
dt
I e → Electron charging currents to the dust particle

I i → Ion charging currents to the dust particle

Surface charge
φd on the particle can be obtained from the capacitance model Qd =Cφ d

Qd =4 πε 0 r d φ d

bc → Represent the critical impact parameter

According to orbital motion limited theory, it is assumed that the mean free path of the electron-neutral
and ion-neutral collisions is larger that the width of the positive ion sheath around the dust particle. It
means that the sheath around the dust particle is collisionless, once an ion enters the dust particle
sheath, the effect of the electrostatic field surrounding the charged particle acts on the ion trajectory.

The ion can be deflected or collected in the case of

b<b c and the ion enters in contact with charged
particle.

While the ion is just deflected in the electric field of the dust particle when
b>b c .

bc , the ion is collected by the dust particle at grazing incidence. The

At the critical impact parameter

conservation of angular momentum and energy for

b=bc can be defined as

mi v i bc =mi v i, grc r d ----------------------------------1

1 1
mi v 2i = mi vi2, grc + eφd
2 2 -------------------------2

From 1 and 2, we get

2
2 bc eφd
1
2
2 1
mi v i = mi vi 2 +
2 rd 1 m v2
2 i i [ ]
2 eφd
b2c =−r 2d
[ m i v 2i
−1
]
Cross- section for ion collection

2eφ d
2
σ ci =πb c =−π
r 2d
[ 2
mi v i
−1
]
f i ( vi)
The ion current is deduced by using the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution function

I i =e ∫ v i σ ci f i ( v i ) d 3 v i
And

3
mi −mi v 2i
f i ( v i ) =ni
(
2 πK B T i
2
exp
) (
2 KB Ti )
Charging current for the ions can be defined as

8 kB Ti eφ
I i =πr 2d ni e
√ (
πmi
1− d
kB Ti )
Concerning the repulsive case, electron current is calculated in the same way as the attractive case
Cross section for electron collection is defined

2 eφd
σ ce =πb 2c=πr 2d
[ 2
me v e
+1
]
Electron current can be written as

8 kB T e eφd
I e=πr 2d ne e
√ πme
exp
( )
kBT i

As we have

I i =I e

8 kB Ti eφ 8 kB Te eφ d
I i =πr 2d ni e
√ (
πmi
1− d
kB Ti ) =
πr 2d n e e
√ πme
exp
( )
k BT i

Formation and behavior of nanoparticles in a plasma: Dusty plasma instabilities. Hagop Tawidian