Complex plasmas: III. Experiments on strong coupling and long-range correlations

Abstract

This paper continues a series of review papers devoted to the physics of complex plasmas, in which one of the components (dust) is in a crystalline or liquid state, while the others (electron, ions, and neutral atoms) are in a gaseous state. This review is devoted to the experimental investigations of new phenomena incomplex plasmas. The experiments are explained using estimates based on the theory of elementary processes in complex plasmas, including the new phenomena considered in the previous parts of the review. The paper describes (i) the experiments on multilayer plasma crystals, including the study of their structure and phase transitions; (ii) the experiments on dust monolayer crystals; (iii) the experiments on plasma clusters formed by small number of dust grains; (iv) the experiments on dust ion-sound waves, dust acoustic waves, dust lattice waves, and dust shear waves; (v) the experiments on shock waves; (vi) the experiments on the ionization instabilities and the creation of dust voids and dust clumps; and (vii) the experiments on Mach cones excited either by fast grains or laser radiation.