Physics and Applications of Complex Plasmas

Abstract

PrefaceThe physics of complex plasma systems containing a colloid "macroscopic" particle component ("dust") is a rapidly emerging area at the forefront of the physics and chemistry of plasmas and gas discharges, space physics and astrophysics, and materials science and engineering. Complex plasma systems with nano-and microscopic particle inclusions is now a hot topic for many research areas. Such plasma systems present an excellent example of complex systems because of the many and varied constituents, and the space and time scales involved, with extensive interaction between them.In our decision to write this book, we were mostly motivated to introduce, in a systematic and easy-to-follow manner, our understanding of the fundamental physics and industrial applications of complex plasma systems. The recent progress in the field has been so remarkable that several novel directions and paradigms in complex plasma research have emerged. Therefore, we have decided to focus on the most important (as we see them) current topics, and new paradigms in the research on and applications of complex plasma systems. We also review the role of "dust" in laboratory plasmas and discuss various challenging applications of the nanoand micrometer-sized particles in high-tech industries. We systematically present the current state of research and the physical insights, including the advanced theoretical models and results of extensive computer simulations, complemented with the laboratory experiments specifically designed to elucidate the fundamental physics of complex plasmas. This book provides a broad perspective and opens up future development of this rapidly expanding field to interested researchers normally working in various areas. Even though the main attention in this book is given to the conditions relevant to the laboratory gas discharges and industrial plasma reactors, most of the fundamental concepts discussed here are also ... Vlll Physics and Applzcations of Complex Plasmasapplicable to space and astrophysical plasmas. A specialized and comprehensive description of the most recent theoretical, experimental, and modeling efforts to understand the unique properties of complex plasma systems, including the stability, dynamics, and self-organization of colloid particles and their associations, is given. Special attention is paid to the physical concepts and most recent technological advances in various industrial applications of the micrometer-and nano-sized particles. The first chapter introduces complex plasmas as a new and unusual state of matter with fascinating physical properties. Chapters 2 and 3 present the fundamentals of the theory of interactions of the colloid particles with ionized gases and experimental methods of production and diagnostics of complex plasmas. Topics important to the physics of strongly and weakly coupled particle-plasma. systems are discussed in the following three chapters. In Chapter 4, key attention is paid to the particle dynamic phenomena, as well as particle arrangement and stability ...

Numerical simulations of thermal conductivity in dissipative two-dimensional Yukawa systems

“…These results are connected with the analysis of the ratio χ K /k B nD, where D is the diffusion constant; see Eq. (5). This ratio may be obtained from direct measurement of particles' velocities without information about interaction potential.…”

“…This makes it impossible to find the transport coefficients analytically. As mentioned above, to predict the transport properties of nonideal systems the various empirical approaches and computer simulations of dynamics of the particles with the different pair potentials are used [1][2][3][4][5]. Hundreds of numerical simulations of equilibrium transport processes in the monoatomic liquids with the wide types of pair potentials may be fitted to a form that is suggested by elementary kinetic theory for dense fluid when the free path l dd of particles between their collisions is comparable to the mean interparticle distance l dd ∼ r p , and the kinetic coefficients (such as D and χ ) may be approximated as [2] D 0.6r p V T exp(−0.8σ ),…”

“…[1][2][3][4][5]. Besides the fundamental aspects, the study of properties of nonideal systems is of special interest for the development of nano-and microtechnologies as well as for the study of covers and materials with the predefined properties [3][4][5].…”

“…A study of physical properties of dusty plasma where the collisions between dust particles and atoms/molecules of the surrounding neutral component may influence considerably the transport characteristics of the system is of great interest [3][4][5]. The dusty plasma (consisting of electrons, ions, neutral gas, and dust macroparticles of micron sizes) is ubiquitous in nature (in space, in planetary atmospheres and rings, etc.)…”

“…The dusty plasma (consisting of electrons, ions, neutral gas, and dust macroparticles of micron sizes) is ubiquitous in nature (in space, in planetary atmospheres and rings, etc.) and often appears in a number of technological processes [4,5]. Laboratory dusty plasma is a good experimental model for studying nonideal systems and for verifying existing empirical and numerical results because owing to their size, dust particles may be filmed.…”