Study of a Transportation Process of Dust Particles in the Plasma of Radio Frequency Discharge

Abstract

This paper presents the results of studies of dust formations in a radio frequency (RF) discharge plasma. In particular, the behavior of dust clouds in various types of traps was investigated. The experiments were carried out in argon plasma with the following discharge parameters: gas pressure of 0.02–0.6 Torr and discharge power of 1–50 W. Two types of the ring were used as a trap—“closed” and “nonclosed.” It was found that by changing the discharge parameters and using a different type of trap, it is possible to control the capture region of dust formations, and therefore, manipulate the extraction of dust particles by mass (size, in the case of monodispersity of particles). It has been observed that at a lower gas pressure the dust cloud is less affected by the traps; moreover, the wider the edge opening of “nonclosed” ring trap, the more efficient the process of extracting dust particles. The results of this paper can be useful for practical application in the processes of separation and extraction of dust particles from a plasma crystal, the study of particle interactions, and the manipulation of individual particles, etc.