AbstractAn interesting aspect in the research of complex (dusty) plasmas is the experimental study of the interaction of microparticles with the surrounding plasma for diagnostic purposes. Local electric fields can be determined from the behavior of particles in the plasma, i.e. particles may serve as electrostatic probes. From particle trajectories, also the determination of momentum flux in beams is possible, and the particles serve as force probes. Recently, temperature sensitive features of particular phosphors were utilized for measuring the surface temperature of microparticles confined in the sheath of a rf plasma. The experiments were performed under variation of gas pressure and rf power of the process plasma and offer a promising approach for the improvement of process plasmas and the understanding of plasma‐particle interaction (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)