Work

Charging of dust in plasmas: Electrical capacity cannot be approximated by the smallest enclosing sphere—tetrapods revisited

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: The charging behavior of micrometer-scale ZnO tetrapods within the sheath of a low-pressure rf-driven argon plasma was examined with a high-precision resonance method. Taking into account recent measurements on the electron sticking coefficient of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA, [C5O2H8]n), the experimental results presented by Asnaz et al., [Phys. Plasmas 25, 073702 (2018)] regarding the charge of tetrapods being modeled by the smallest enclosing sphere approximation were determined to be erroneous. Rather than this approach, the correct interpretation involves using the tetrapod's electrical capacity, which can be approximated with reasonable precision by its orientation-averaged equivalent sphere, to accurately depict the charging of the tetrapods.

Source: Physics of Plasmas

DOI: 10.1063/5.0317696

Authors: Franko Greiner, Isabel König, Armin Mengel

Institution: Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel

Language: English

Topic: Dust and Plasma Wave Phenomena

Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Funder: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

Award: Entwicklung einer neuen Methode zur Messung von Elektronenhaftkoeffizienten bei niedrigen Energien mit Hilfe staubiger Plasmen