Dusty Plasmas in the

Laboratory and Space

Bob Merlino

April 2003 APS Meeting Philadelphia, PA
Outline
1) Introduction what is a dusty plasma and
where are they found
2) the charging of dust in a plasma
3) devices for producing dusty plasmas
4) waves in dusty plasmas

plasma = electrons + ions
Plasma
+
-
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
+
-
What is a dusty
plasma?

D
Debye
shielding
small particle
of solid matter
becomes
negatively
charged
absorbs
electrons and
ions
Dusty Plasma in the Universe
Dust represents much of the
solid matter in the universe
and this component often
coexists with the ionized
matter forming a dusty
plasma.

Importance of Charged Dust
the dust acquires an electrical charge and
thus is subject to electromagnetic as well as
gravitational forces

the charged dust particles participate in the
collective plasma processes
DUSTY PLASMAS
Solar nebula
planetary rings
interstellar medium
comet tails
noctilucent clouds
lightning
Microelectronic
processing
rocket exhaust
fusion devices
Natural Man-made
Our solar system
accumulated out
of a dense cloud of
gas and dust, forming
everything that is now
part of our world.
Rosette Nebula
Noctilucent Clouds (NLC)
Occur in the summer polar mesosphere (~ 82 km)
50 nm ice crystals
Associated with unusual radar echoes and reductions
in the local ionospheric density
An early temperature measurement in a dusty plasma.
A flame is a very weakly ionized plasma
that contains soot particles.
Comet Hale-Bopp
Spokes in Saturns B Ring
Voyager 2
Nov. 1980


Cassini-
Huygens
July 2004
Semiconductor Processing System
dust
silane (SiH
4
) + Ar + O
2
SiO
2
particles

Semiconductor Manufacturing
dust
Si
Physics Today
August 1994
Dust Charging Processes
electron and ion collection
secondary emission
UV induced photoelectron
emission

Total current to a grain = 0

E I = I
e
+ I
i
+ I
sec
+ I
pe
= 0

electron
repulsion
ion enhancement
The Charge on a Dust Grain
In typical lab plasmas I
sec
= I
pe
= 0
Electron thermal speed >> ion thermal speed so the grains
charge to a negative potential V
S
relative to the plasma, until
the condition I
e
= I
i
is achieved.
a
2
2
1
exp
a
kT
eV
m
kT
en I
a
kT
eV
m
kT
en I
i
S
i
i
i i
e
S
e
e
e e
t
t
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
Q = (4tc
o
a) V
S

Typical Lab Plasma
For T
e
= T
i
= T in a hydrogen plasma

V
S
= 2.5 (kT/e)

If T ~ 1 eV and a = 1 m,

Q ~ 2000 e

Mass m ~ 5 10
12
m
p

Dust Charge Measurements
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Diameter (micron)
2
0
0.5
1
1.5
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160
Electron Energy (eV)
Glass
Graphite
Walch, Horanyi, & Robertson,
Phys. Rev. Lett. 75, 838 (1995)
Devices for producing
dusty plasmas
RF Dusty Plasma Devices

PUMP
ANODE
DISK
FIREROD
ROTATING DUST
DISPENSER
PLASMA COLUMN
HOT PLATE
B
VIDEO
CAMERA
CONFINED
DUST GRAINS
GAS IN
GAS IN
Equipotential profiles
of an anode double
layer
anode
Device for studying
the trapping of dust
in a dc glow
discharge

DUST IN A GLOW DISCHARGE
N
2

Vacuum
vessel
PS
+
B
Anode
Dust Tray
Anode Glow
Plasma
Dust: kaolin (aluminum silicate)
E
mg
QE
wavefronts
Dust Acoustic Wave Image
dust mass
DA Dispersion relation
Monochromatic plane wave solutions
for T
e
= T
i
= T
o
o

= =
1
1
d
d
DA
Z
m
kT
C f
where o = n
do
/n
+o

Dust Acoustic Wave
Dispersion Relation
theory
Shocks in Dusty Plasma
Shocks in Dusty Plasma- results
Shocks in dusty plasmas
Conclusions
Ion acoustic compress-
ional pulses are observed
to steepen as they travel
through a dusty plasma
Relevant to astrophysical
contexts where density
disturbances travel
through dust clouds
Conclusions and Outlook
Only recently have we begun to explore the
behavior of dusty plasmas in the laboratory
-charging mechanisms, waves
Technological applications of dusty plasmas are
now being exploited
-ceramic deposition composites
-growth of nanosize particles
-diamond growth and deposition on metals

Dusty plasmas in space are usually embedded
in magnetic fields. This aspect of dusty
plasmas has yet to be studied in the lab
R = Mv/QB >> typical lab plasmas

Dusty plasmas may form strongly coupled
systems known as Coulomb Crystals a new
area for plasma physics research


Dusty Plasma
DUST
RF Dusty Plasma Device