Particle interaction measurements in a Coulomb crystal using caged-particle motion

A technique for characterizing the particle interaction potential of a Coulomb crystal is developed. The mean-square displacement (MSD) is measured, showing both caged- and superdiffusive-particle motions. By subtracting the center of mass of neighboring particles in computing MSD, only short-wavelength particle motions are retained. This yields the lattice Einstein frequency, which contains information about the interparticle forces and potentials. Video measurements of particle motions in a complex (dusty) plasma are used to demonstrate the technique.