The dynamics of formation of monolayer dust structures in a confining electric field

Abstract

The conditions for formation of monolayer dust structures are investigated for dust grains (interacting via isotropic pair potentials) placed in a confining electric field varying linearly with position. The relationships between the grain interaction potential, the number of grains and the gradient of the confining field of the electric trap are established. A criterion for instability of a monolayer dust structure is proposed.