Experimental Studies of Particle Cloud - Plasma Boundaries and Velocity Space Distribution Functions in Low Discharge Dusty Plasmas

Auburn University, Auburn AL

Investigators

Abstract

The research is directed toward two experimental issues in dusty plasmas. The first involves the boundary between dust clouds and the background plasma and the second the kinetics of dusty plasmas (the dust velocity distribution). The boundary study is important to learning how to manipulate dust clouds, in addition to the basic plasma physics component. The key diagnostic in the study is particle image velocimetry (PIV), which has been pioneered by the PI for study of dust grains motion in plasmas (through the cross-correlation of images taken at different times.