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.

References in corpus (1)

• Structural transitions of finite spherical Yukawa crystals

Cited by in corpus (6)

• On the Wake Structure in Streaming Complex Plasmas
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• The ion potential in warm dense matter: wake effects due to streaming degenerate electrons
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• String structures in driven 3D complex plasma clusters
• Network analysis of 3D complex plasma clusters in a rotating electric field