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Dust grains are produced by evaporation of silver in an experimental setup consisting of a dust chamber, a plasma chamber, and a deflection chamber. Due to differential pressure between the dust and plasma chambers, the dust grains move upward and after passing through plasma they become negatively charged. These charged dust grains are then deflected by a dc field applied across a pair of deflector plates in the deflection chamber. Both from the amount of deflection and also from the floating potential, the number of charges collected on the dust grains is calculated. As the gas pressure is changed, the plasma density and the electron temperature changes. Dust charge is then calculated at each value of pressure from the deflection and floating potential. It is found that the electron temperature has a profound effect in the accumulation of charge on dust grains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An experimental study has been performed into the variation of charge on dust grains with change in the ambient plasma conditions. A dust beam containing submicron sized silver grains was passed through plasma. The dust grains were charged by the plasma particles as well as by primary electrons from the filament. An increase in the filament current increased both the plasma density and the number density of the primary electrons. The grain charge was found out both from the deflection of the dust grains and also from the floating potential. The experimental observations shows that the secondary emission caused by the primary electrons significantly influenced and played a prominent role in the establishment of charge on the grains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A nonlocal theory has been developed to study the effect of a flow profile on the stability of low frequency drift-type instability in an inhomogeneous, dusty plasma. The representative experimental values for the plasma parameters show that, due to the presence of dust particles, the well-known stability of the drift wave in a sheared slab geometry does not hold. However, a radially varying transverse (to the equilibrium magnetic field) velocity field is found to play a key role in stabilizing this instability. © 2001 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the effect of magnetron target on different plasma parameters of Argon/Hydrogen (Ar - H2) direct current (DC) magnetron discharge is examined. Here, Copper (Cu) and Chromium (Cr) are used as magnetron targets. The value of plasma parameters such as electron temperature (kTe), electron density (Ne), ion density (Ni), degree of ionization of Ar, and degree of dissociation of H2 for both the target are studied as a function of input power and hydrogen content in the discharge. The plasma parameters are determined by using Langmuir probe and Optical emission spectroscopy. On the basis of the different reactions in the gas phase, the variation of plasma parameters and sputtering rate are explained. The obtained results show that electron and ion density decline with gradual addition of Hydrogen in the discharge and increase with rising input power. It brings significant changes on the degree of ionization of Ar and dissociation of H2. The enhanced value of electron density (Ne), ion density (Ni), degree of Ionization of Ar, and degree of dissociation of H2 for Cr compared to Cu target is explained on the basis of it's higher Ion Induced Secondary Electron Emission Coefficient (ISEE) value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The average equilibrium charge of submicron sized silver particles, collected during a finite time of transit through a magnetically confined plasma is reported. The fine, almost spherical particles with uniform size are produced in an evaporation chamber. The average charge of the particles was found to be about 1.4x10[sup 2] electronic charges. This result is compared with theoretical predictions. © 2000 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]