Design of new binary interaction classes in complex plasmas

A method is proposed to “design” binary interactions between charged “dust” microparticles in weakly ionized plasmas by applying external ac electric fields of various polarizations. The physical idea of the method is that the applied field induces ion flow which distorts the Debye spheres of the co...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physics of plasmas 2009-04, Vol.16 (4), p.043705-043705-6
Main Authors: Kompaneets, R., Morfill, G. E., Ivlev, A. V.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
COLLISION INTEGRALS
COLLISIONS
DUSTS
ELECTRIC FIELDS
MATERIALS SCIENCE
PLASMA
POLARIZATION
THREE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
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Summary:A method is proposed to “design” binary interactions between charged “dust” microparticles in weakly ionized plasmas by applying external ac electric fields of various polarizations. The physical idea of the method is that the applied field induces ion flow which distorts the Debye spheres of the compensating plasma charges surrounding microparticles and thus changes the interparticle interactions. To investigate the resulting interactions, we use a self-consistent kinetic description for ions with the Bhatnagar–Gross–Krook ion-neutral collision integral. The analysis shows a variety of interaction classes including positive and negative dipolar interactions, triaxially anisotropic interactions, and isotropic interactions of molecular type (i.e., consisting of a repulsion at short distances and an attraction at larger distances). This technique will make it possible to use three-dimensional complex plasmas as realistic model systems for studying the atomistic dynamics of fluids, including liquid-vapor phase transitions and the behavior near the critical point.
ISSN:1070-664X
1089-7674
DOI:10.1063/1.3112703