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Updated: Aug 10, 2026

An Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Setup to Investigate the Reactive Species Formation
Published on: November 3, 2016
Experimental determination of dust-particle charge in a discharge plasma at elevated pressures
S Ratynskaia1, S Khrapak, A Zobnin
1Centre for Interdisciplinary Plasma Science, Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik, D-85741 Garching, Germany.
Abstract:
The charge of dust particles is determined experimentally in a bulk dc discharge plasma in the pressure range 20-100 Pa. The charge is obtained by two independent methods: one based on an analysis of the particle motion in a stable particle flow and another on an analysis of the transition of the flow to an unstable regime. Molecular-dynamics simulations of the particle charging for conditions similar to those of the experiment are also performed. The results of both experimental methods and the simulations demonstrate good agreement. The charge obtained is several times smaller than predicted by the collisionless orbital motion theory, and thus the results serve as an experimental indication that ion-neutral collisions significantly affect particle charging.
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