Dust–dust and dust-plasma interactions of monolayer plasma crystals

Abstract

The horizontal and vertical oscillation modes of monolayer plasma crystal are investigated and are related to dust–dust and dust-plasma interactions. It is found that the dust particles in the plasma sheath excited by a biased wire show parametric resonances. This parametric resonance is identified as the reason for the observed “sublimation” transition of the plasma crystal from a solid to a gaslike state.