Coulomb expansion of a thin dust cloud observed experimentally under afterglow plasma conditions
Abstract
The Coulomb expansion of a thin cloud of charged dust particles was observed experimentally, in a plasma afterglow. This expansion occurs due to mutual repulsion among positively charged dust particles, after electrons and ions have escaped the chamber volume. In the experiment, a two-dimensional cloud of dust particles was initially levitated in a glow-discharge plasma. The power was then switched off to produce afterglow conditions. The subsequent fall of the dust cloud was slowed by reversing the electric force, to an upward direction, allowing an extended observation. At early time, measurements of the Coulomb expansion in the horizontal direction are found to be accurately modeled by the equation of state for a uniformly charged thin disk. Finally, bouncing from the lower electrode was found to be avoided by lowering the impact velocity <100 mm/s.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Nov 01, 2022
- Source ID
- 10.1063/5.0112680
Entities
People
- J. Goree
- Neeraj Chaubey
Organizations
- Army Research Office
- National Science Foundation
- United States Department of Energy
- University of Iowa