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Microstructure of a liquid two-dimensional dusty plasma under shear
V Nosenko1, A V Ivlev, G E Morfill
1Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik, D-85741 Garching, Germany. nosenko@mpe.mpg.de
Physical Review Letters
|May 1, 2012
Summary
This study reveals how shear flow affects particle arrangements in a two-dimensional plasma crystal. The microstructure becomes anisotropic, with particle alignment indicating the shear rate.
Area of Science:
- Plasma Physics
- Soft Matter Physics
Background:
- Understanding the behavior of liquids under shear is crucial in fluid dynamics.
- Plasma crystals offer a unique model system for studying strongly coupled liquids due to their tunable properties.
Purpose of the Study:
- To experimentally investigate the microstructure of a strongly coupled liquid under shear flow.
- To analyze the anisotropic changes in particle arrangements within a two-dimensional plasma crystal.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a shear-melted two-dimensional plasma crystal, a single-layer suspension of micrometer-size particles in an rf discharge plasma.
- Employed video microscopy to track particle trajectories and analyze the resulting microstructure.
Main Results:
- Observed an anisotropic microstructure with compressional and extensional axes oriented at approximately ±45° to the shear flow direction.
- Demonstrated that the ellipticity of the pair correlation function or static structure factor directly correlates with the normalized shear rate.
Conclusions:
- The study establishes a direct link between microstructural anisotropy and shear rate in a strongly coupled plasma liquid.
- The findings provide a method for determining shear rates by analyzing the microstructure of such systems.
