Simulation on cluster structuring of dust particles confined in a plasma

Abstract The screening effect on 3D structure of charged dust particles confined electrostatically in a plasma is studied using a particle simulation. We find that a few hundred particles form multi-shell structure in the presence of screened Coulomb potential, and that the mean radius of the shell is given by R s ∞ (1 +  D ∞ / Λ D ) exp(−  D ∞ / Λ D ), where R s ∞ is the radius of the s th shell observed in the bare Coulomb potential, Λ D is the screening length, and D ∞ is the interparticle distance on the s th shell for Λ D  → ∞.