Controlled interactions of two microparticle clouds in a dc glow discharge dusty (complex) plasma

Abstract

The control of the confinement of charged microparticles in a plasma is an important topic for the dusty plasma community. Earlier experiments have used control over individual microparticles or a single particle cloud to obtain information about the potential structure of the surrounding plasma. In this paper, experiments that make use of active control of two microparticle clouds suspended in a plasma are discussed. Here, an array of three electrodes is used to modify the potential between the two clouds. Through the application of an applied perturbation on one of the array elements, the two clouds are allowed to interact. Particle image velocimetry techniques are used to obtain spatial maps of the interaction process. The experimental measurements show that an apparent recoil occurs between the two particle clouds as a result of the interaction. A simple model is used to show that a recoil may be a possible outcome of the interaction process.