Focus on Complex (Dusty) Plasmas

Abstract

The research field of complex (dusty) plasmas has seen a sustained rapid growth in recent years. This can be attributed to the remarkable discovery of new states of (soft) matter - the liquid and crystalline plasmas - in 1994. Following this discovery, many researchers throughout the world decided to explore and investigate the new physics that was beckoning. Now the field produces about one scientific publication per day, many links to other disciplines are being forged (e.g. colloid physics, solid state, granular media, environmental research, etc) and application potentials are under investigation, too (e.g. nanostructured materials, plasma cleaning devices, adaptive electrodes, particle manipulation and modification, etc). The young field of complex (dusty) plasmas is beginning to come of age. This seemed like an excellent time to produce a Focus Issue on the topic. Through the diversity of the contributions the reader is able to get a synoptic view of the field which, of course, a review article cannot provide. The papers cover basic aspects of dust-plasma interactions in the laboratory, under microgravity conditions and in space, as well as the application of plasma-processed micro-particles. The contributions focus on the latest scientific advances in complex plasmas. Judging from the huge response to the announcement of the Focus Issue in New Journal of Physics, we, the editors, conclude that the field is still growing and that the timing for the Focus Issue is just right!