DUST PARTICLE CHARGING IN SHEATH

The charging and the screening of spherical dust particles in sheaths near the wall were studied using computer simulation. The three-dimensional PIC/MCC method and molecular dynamics method were applied to describe plasma particles motion and interaction with macroscopic dust grain. Calculations were carried out at different neutral gas pressures and wall potentials. Values of the charge of the dust particles and spatial distributions of plasma parameters are obtained by modelling. The results have shown that the charge of the dust particles in the sheath, as well as the spatial distribution of the ions and electrons near the dust particles, depend strongly on the wall potential. It is shown that for large negative values of the wall potential the negative charge of a dust particle decreases due to the decline of the electron density in its vicinity. In addition, the flow of energy of the ions on the surface of dust particles is increased due to better focusing effect of the dust particle field on ions.