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Updated: Jul 19, 2026

Experimental Methods of Dust Charging and Mobilization on Surfaces with Exposure to Ultraviolet Radiation or Plasmas
Published on: April 3, 2018
Residual dust charges in discharge afterglow
L Couëdel1, M Mikikian, L Boufendi
1GREMI (Groupe de Recherches sur l'Energétique des Milieux Ionisés), CNRS/Université d'Orléans, 14 rue d'Issoudun, 45067 Orléans Cedex 2, France. lenaic.couedel@univ-orleans.fr
Abstract:
An on-ground measurement of dust-particle residual charges in the afterglow of a dusty plasma was performed in a rf discharge. An upward thermophoretic force was used to balance the gravitational force. It was found that positively charged, negatively charged, and neutral dust particles coexisted for more than 1 min after the discharge was switched off. The mean residual charge for 200-nm-radius particles was measured. The dust particle mean charge is about -5e at a pressure of 1.2 mbar and about -3e at a pressure of 0.4 mbar .
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