Abstract

An experiment is described for investigating the charging of dust grains in a plasma. The apparatus is a double plasma device into which single dust grains are dropped from the top. The dust charge is detected and measured by a sensitive electrometer attached to a Faraday cup on the bottom. Experiments with electrons from the emissive filaments but without plasma indicate that the grains charge to approximately the filament potential for filament bias voltages smaller in absolute value than /spl minus/70 V. The charge is of order 10/sup 6/ electrons for SiC grains 30-150 /spl mu/m in diameter. At higher bias voltage the charge is reduced due to secondary emission. The charge on grains increases with grain size and is nearly independent of the filament emission current. With plasma in the device, the grains charge both positively and negatively.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

Full Text
Paper version not known

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.