Investigating the cycle time of dusty plasma nanoparticles' growth during the presence of magnetic fields

Nanoparticles (NPs) spontaneously nucleate from reactive gas(es) in low temperature plasmas. They levitate in the bulk plasma due to a balance of several forces such as electric, ion drag, neutral drag, thermophoretic and gravitational. These forces depend on the radii of the NPs; thus, when they grow to > 100 nm, ion drag, and gravitational force supersede the others which cause the NPs to transport away from the central plasma and eventually escape the plasma. The departure of the particles from the plasma enables a new generation of nanoparticles to form. This leads to a periodic process known as a “growth cycle”. In this study, NPs are grown in a capacitively coupled radiofrequency plasma. The presence of magnetic fields leads to faster cycle times. These observations will be accompanied by measurements of the plasma potential and multiphysics simulations of the background plasma.