Structure of finite two-dimensional Yukawa lattices: dust crystals

Dust particles in plasmas are often confined near the boundary between the plasma bulk and the sheath where the gravitation is balanced by electrostatic force. To keep dust particles from running away horizontally, an electrostatic potential is usually applied to the electrode surrounding these dusty plasmas and, under appropriate conditions, we have finite two-dimensional lattices of dust particles. Modeling the interaction between dust particles as the isotropic Yukawa interaction, structures of finite two-dimensional Yukawa systems at low temperatures have been analyzed both by numerical simulations and variational methods. The effect of the correlation energy between dust particles is shown to play an important role in the formation of the one-body distribution in these systems.