LAUSR

The experimental and theoretical investigations of the formation of dust particle clouds in the stratified positive column of a dc glow discharge in helium were performed. The size and shape of a dust cloud that levitated in the strong electric field of the striations in a vertically oriented discharge tube were measured under different helium pressures. Axial electric field strength was also experimentally estimated. A model for radial distributions of all dusty plasma parameters of the positive column of the dc glow discharge was developed to describe the obtained experimental results. The model is based on the solution of a non-local Boltzmann equation for an electron energy distribution function, drift-diffusion equations for ions and dust particles, and a Poisson equation for a self-consistent radial electric field. The experimental and calculated results show that the size of the dust cloud decreases with the increase in the gas pressure, and the axial electric field strength pressure dependencies have minima. At low gas pressures, the dust particle charge number density increases and exceeds the electron density that strongly influences the plasma parameters.The experimental and theoretical investigations of the formation of dust particle clouds in the stratified positive column of a dc glow discharge in helium were performed. The size and shape of a dust cloud that levitated in the strong electric field of the striations in a vertically oriented discharge tube were measured under different helium pressures. Axial electric field strength was also experimentally estimated. A model for radial distributions of all dusty plasma parameters of the positive column of the dc glow discharge was developed to describe the obtained experimental results. The model is based on the solution of a non-local Boltzmann equation for an electron energy distribution function, drift-diffusion equations for ions and dust particles, and a Poisson equation for a self-consistent radial electric field. The experimental and calculated results show that the size of the dust cloud decreases with the increase in the gas pressure, and the axial electric field strength pressure dependencies h...