Ion-Streaming Induced Order Transition in 3D Dust Clusters
Abstract
Dust Dynamics Simulations utilizing a dynamical screening approach are performed to study the effect of ion-streaming on the self-organized structures in a three-dimensional spherically confined complex (dusty) plasma. Varying the Mach number M - the ratio of ion drift velocity to the sound velocity, the simulations reproduce the experimentally observed cluster configurations in the two limiting cases: at M=0 strongly correlated crystalline structures consisting of nested spherical shells (Yukawa balls) and, for M\geq1, flow-aligned dust chains, respectively. In addition, our simulations reveal a discontinuous transition between these two limits. It is found that already a moderate ion drift velocity (M\approx0.1) destabilizes the highly ordered Yukawa balls and initiates an abrupt melting transition. The critical value of M is found to be independent of the cluster size.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1201.1711,
title = {Ion-Streaming Induced Order Transition in 3D Dust Clusters},
author = {Patrick Ludwig and Hanno Kählert and Michael Bonitz},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1201.1711},
year = {2015}
}