The Angular Velocity of Dust Particles in Multi-Ring Plasmas with Agitators

Using a grooved electrode and a wave form generator, a plasma was created from argon gas. Due to the grooves in the electrode a confining potential well formed in the plasma. Melamine formaldehyde dust was then sprinkled onto the plasma creating a multi-ring dusty plasma. The dust particles moved in a circular path with varying angular velocities depending on the number of rings in the section they were traveling through. Among the dust particle there were agitators, which are particles that aren't laying on the same plane as the rest, meaning they rapidly jump in and out of the plane. It was observed that the angular velocity increased for sections with a smaller number of rings. The dependence of the angular velocity on the anode voltage was also investigated.