First experimental investigations of spherical three-dimensional plasma crystals consisting of hundreds or thousands of micrometer-sized polymer particles suspended in a radio-frequency gas discharge are described. These "Coulomb balls" are not subject to the formation of dust-free regions (voids) and have an unusual structure of nested crystalline shells. While small systems are in a solid phase, large systems show melting effects.

Small three-dimensional strongly coupled charged particles in a spherical confinement potential arrange themselves in a nested shell structure. By means of experiments, computer simulations, and theoretical analysis, the sensitivity of their structural properties to the type of interparticle forces is explored. While the normalized shell radii are found to be independent of shielding, the shell occupation numbers are sensitive to screening and are quantitatively explained by an isotropic Yukawa model.

Strong correlation effects in classical and quantum plasmas are discussed. In particular, Coulomb ͑Wigner͒ crystallization phenomena are reviewed focusing on one-component non-neutral plasmas in traps and on macroscopic two-component neutral plasmas. The conditions for crystal formation in terms of critical values of the coupling parameters and the distance fluctuations and the phase diagram of Coulomb crystals are discussed.

A model for the confinement of the recently discovered Coulomb balls is proposed. These spherical three-dimensional plasma crystals are trapped inside a rf discharge under gravity conditions and show an unusual structural order in complex plasmas. Measurements of the thermophoretic force acting on the trapped dust particles and simulations of the plasma properties of the discharge are presented. The proposed model of confinement considers thermophoretic, ion-drag, and electric field forces, and shows excellent agreement with the observations. The findings suggest that self-confinement does not significantly contribute to the structural properties of Coulomb balls.

Self-excited dust-density waves are experimentally studied in a dusty plasma under microgravity. Two types of waves are observed: a mode inside the dust volume propagating in the direction of the ion flow and another mode propagating obliquely at the boundary between the dusty plasma and the space charge sheath. The dominance of oblique modes can be described in the frame of a fluid model. It is shown that the results fom the fluid model agree remarkably well with a kinetic electrostatic model of Rosenberg [J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 14, 631 (1996)]. In the experiment, the instability is quenched by increasing the gas pressure or decreasing the dust density. The critical pressure and dust density are well described by the models.