Made to Order: Researchers Discover a New Form of Crystalline Matter
November 13, 2015 | American Physical SocietyEstimated reading time: 1 minute
Dust is everywhere: under the bed, on the stairs and even inside of plasmas. A team of researchers from Auburn University, the University of Iowa and the University of California, San Diego, using the new Magnetized Dusty Plasma Experiment (MDPX), the first U.S. experiment of its kind, recently discovered a new form of crystalline-like matter in strongly magnetized dusty plasma.
A feature of dusty plasmas is that under the proper conditions, usually at higher gas pressures, the dust particles can form self-organized, hexagonal structures--a configuration known as a "plasma crystal."
The striking aspect of the newly discovered crystal structures is that the lattice (spacing between crystal particles) properties can be imposed arbitrarily by an external grid/mesh structure (Figure 1). These new made-to-order crystals can have any geometric pattern, making them distinct from the crystal lattices of ordinary solids and traditional plasma crystals, which are self-organized structures not imposed by external boundary conditions.
In space, scientists observe large dust structures in star-forming regions such as planetary nebula. Small dust grains--the thickness of human hair or smaller--form amazing structures such as Saturn's rings and the long tails of comets. Most of these naturally-occurring dusty plasma systems have a very complex interaction between plasma, magnetic fields and these tiny, charged grains of dust.
On the Earth, this same mixture of plasma, magnetic fields and charged dust grains, is often present in many industrial and research plasmas from semiconductor manufacturing to fusion experiments. In some cases, the dust is considered to be a source of contamination that needs to be controlled and safely removed from the plasma. But, if the properties of smaller (nanometer-scale) particles can be controlled and manipulated, they could prove to be an important tool in the future of plasma manufacturing.
Ongoing studies on the MDPX show the ability to control the shape of these ordered structures and where they are suspended in the plasma (Figure 2). In the future, this discovery could lead to new approaches to trapping and controlling micro-particles in plasma and further efforts in designing their properties for both fundamental physics investigations and possible processing and industrial applications.
Suggested Items
All Flex Solutions Hires Mike Madetzke as Manager of R&D
05/08/2024 | All Flex SolutionsAll Flex Solutions is very pleased to announce that Mike Madetzke has joined their team as their new Manager of Research and Development.
Seeking Employment: Palash Pranav Vyas
05/03/2024 | Barry Matties, I-Connect007Despite skilled worker shortages across the industry, there are many educated and qualified individuals ready to contribute to electronics manufacturing. Here we profile Palash Pranav Vyas, a Ph.D. candidate at Auburn University whose work in drop shock reliability won him Best Student Poster at IPC APEX EXPO 2024.
NextFlex Convenes the Hybrid Electronics Community at Binghamton University
05/01/2024 | NextFlexBinghamton University hosted the NextFlex hybrid electronics community on April 18 for a day of expert presentations, breakout sessions on technology and manufacturing topics, and networking.
Zentech’s Board of Directors Announces the Return of Matt Turpin as President and CEO
04/22/2024 | Zentech ManufacturingTurpin draws upon over 35 years of experience in the electronics industry and has an 18-year history with Zentech. He previously served as President and CEO from 2006 to 2019 after which time he has remained active in the EMS industry as an advisor to Zentech and other industry organizations.
SEMI Talent Forum 2024 to Help Build Next-Generation Chip Industry Workforce
04/09/2024 | SEMIPost-graduates and onboarding talent will connect with local companies to explore semiconductor industry career paths and employment opportunities at the SEMI Talent Forum, May 1, 2024 at the University of Swansea.