Threshold phenomena in a throbbing complex plasma

Maxime Mikikian (1) , Lénaïc Couëdel (1, 2) , Marjorie Cavarroc (1, 3) , Yves Tessier (1) , Laifa Boufendi (1)

1 GREMI - Groupe de recherches sur l'énergétique des milieux ionisés
2 MPE - Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics
3 MID - MID Dreux Innovation

In complex plasmas, the trapped dust particle cloud is often characterized by a central dust-free region (”void”). The void induces a spatial inhomogeneity of the dust particle distribution and is at the origin of many intricate unstable phenomena. One of this behavior is the so-called heartbeat instability consisting of successive contractions and expansions of the void. This instability is characterized by a strong nonlinear dynamics which can reveal the occurrence of incomplete sequences corresponding to failed contractions. Experimental results based on high-speed imaging are presented for the first time and underline this threshold effect in both the dust cloud motion and the evolution of the plasma light emission.

Mots clés: Dust particle; Dusty plasma; Complex plasma; Void; Instability; Instabilities; Mixed Mode Oscillations; Threshold; Ionization

Domaines: Plasmas; Physique des plasmas [physics.plasm-ph]

Maxime Mikikian, Lénaïc Couëdel, Marjorie Cavarroc, Yves Tessier, Laifa Boufendi. Threshold phenomena in a throbbing complex plasma. Physical Review Letters, 2010, 105, pp.075002. ⟨10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.075002⟩. ⟨hal-00502767⟩