• Accepted Paper

Experimental study of the impact of ion wakes on the charges and dynamics of dust particles in a binary complex plasma

Roman A. Syrovatka, Vadim N. Naumkin, Andrey M. Lipaev, Alexandr D. Usachev, Mikhail M. Vasiliev, Oleg F. Petrov, and Andrey V. Zobnin

Phys. Rev. E - Accepted 4 September, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/9q9z-5d6k

Abstract

A micron-sized negatively charged particle in a complex plasma is typically surrounded by an ion stream. The latter is focused by the former, and shapes the region of elevated ion concentration (ion wake). As a result, the interaction between dust particles in a complex plasma involves both a force governed by the screened interaction of the charges of the particles and additional parametric interactions. One is associated with attraction to the ion wake of a nearby particle, and the other with a change of charge of a particle in the ion wake of another particle. This parametric interaction can be seen as an imaginary violation of Newton’s third law and can lead to various types of instabilities in the ensemble of dust particles. In this work, individual particles with a diameter of 7.17 µm moved above a monolayer of 10.41 µm particles in plasma sheath. The light particle temporarily become localized above one of the larger particles in the course of its movement. The resulting pairs perform finite, persistent motion. Three-dimensional analysis of this motion allows us to estimate the charges of the dust particles, measure the relative change in charge of the lower particle located in the ion wake under the upper particle, and quantitatively assess the attraction force exerted by ion wake on the lower particle.

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