Final Technical Report for Grant DE-FG02-04ER54795

Abstract

This is the final technical report for DOE Grant #DE-FG02-04ER54795-Experimental Investigations of Fundamental Processes in Dusty Plasmas. A plasma is an ionized gas, and a dusty plasmas is a plasma that contains, in addition to electrons and ions, micron-sized dust particles. The dust particles acquire and electric charge in the plasma by collecting electrons and ions. The electrons move more rapidly than the ions, so the dust charge is negative. A 1 micron dust particle in a typical low temperature plasma has a charge corresponding to approximately 2000 electrons. Dusty plasmas are naturally found in astrophysical plasmas, planetary rings, technological plasmas, and magnetic fusion plasmas. The goal of this project was to study in the laboratory, the basic physical processes that occur in dusty plasmas. This report provides a summary of the major scientific products and activities of this award.