Analysis of a 2D “liquid”plasma lattice

To study the structural and dynamical properties of a 2D dusty plasma lattice, a set of experiments were performed in an environment of radio frequency discharge. Based on the results of one of the experiments, pair correlation function, bond-orientational correlation function and mean square displacement of such a system were computed and analyzed. The bond-orientational correlation function is found to fit in with the law of e-r, and the mean square displacement is found to increase monotonously with time, both of which, together with the pair correlation function, indicate that the two-dimensional dusty plasma lattice formed in the experiment stayed in a 搇iquid?state.