Electron magnetization effects on carbonaceous dusty nanoparticles grown in Ar-C_{2}H_{2} capacitively coupled...

Carbonaceous dusty nanoparticles spontaneously grow in nonthermal plasmas from a gas mixture of argon and acetylene. These particles levitate and grow within the bulk plasma for a duration known as the growth cycle (T_{c}), after which they gradually move away. In experiments operating at 500 milliTorr, the particles reach a maximum radius of approximately 250 nm for T_{c}∼ 121 s. However, the introduction of weak magnetic fields reduces both the maximum radius and T_{c}. The modified electron Hall parameter (H_{e}^{'}), which quantifies the degree of electron magnetization, increases linearly with the magnetic field strength, transitioning from unmagnetized electrons (H_{e}^{'}<1) to magnetized electrons (H_{e}^{'}>1). T_{c} gradually decreases to around 40 s until H_{e}^{'}∼1 at approximately 330 Gauss, after which it remains roughly constant for fields up to about 1020 Gauss. Additionally, with increasing magnetic field strength, the dust growth rate initially decreases to H_{e}^{'}∼1, then increases slightly again. These results demonstrate that the onset of electron magnetization at can control the growth of nanoparticles from chemical precursors in nonthermal plasmas, which is relevant for industrial applications.