Merging and Splitting of Plasma Spheroids in a Dusty Plasma

Maxime Mikikian (1) , Hagop Tawidian (1) , Thomas Lecas (1)

1 GREMI - Groupe de recherches sur l'énergétique des milieux ionisés

Dust particle growth in a plasma is a strongly disturbing phenomenon for the plasma equilibrium. It can induce many different types of low-frequency instabilities that can be experimentally observed, especially using high-speed imaging. A spectacular case has been observed in a Krypton plasma where a huge density of dust particles is grown by material sputtering. The instability consists of well-defined regions of enhanced optical emission that emerge from the electrode vicinity and propagate towards the discharge center. These plasma spheroids have complex motions resulting from their mutual interaction that can also lead to the merging of two plasma spheroids into a single one. The reverse situation is also observed with the splitting of a plasma spheroid in two parts. These results are presented for the first time and reveal new behaviors in dusty plasmas.

Mots clés: Dusty plasmas; Complex plasmas; instabilities; plasma spheroids; krypton; merging; splitting; blob

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

Maxime Mikikian, Hagop Tawidian, Thomas Lecas. Merging and Splitting of Plasma Spheroids in a Dusty Plasma. Physical Review Letters, 2012, 109, pp.245007. ⟨10.1103/PhysRevLett.109.245007⟩. ⟨hal-00751707⟩