BECAA: A route to systematic production of true two-dimensional dust clouds and clusters in laboratory complex plasmas

Two-dimensional (2D) dust monolayers are ideal systems for developing and testing thermodynamic models and studying the statistical behavior of complex/dusty plasmas. However, creating a perfect 2D dust monolayer or eliminating unwanted off-plane dust grains inside an active complex plasma system is extremely challenging. There are some methods to manipulate and control the charged dust grains via electromagnetic fields, varying discharge conditions, controlling confinement boundaries, UV irradiation, etc.; however, these techniques affect the plasma parameters and disturb the dynamic equilibrium of dust grains. We present BECAA (Bidirectional Electrode Control Arm Assembly) to precisely manipulate and control the density and dimensionality of a dust cloud levitated above the RF-powered electrode in complex plasmas [3]. The developed method is independent of any discharge or plasma parameters and does not alter the dust dynamic equilibrium. BECAA can produce perfect 2D dust monolayers by eliminating off-plane particles through a lowered confinement region induced by a tilt from the electrode control arms. The method is stable and precise enough to eliminate dust particles one by one, creating the desired N-clusters, which were only possible by multiple trials until now.