Self-organization and growth of dust structures in a glow discharge

Ordered structures of macroparticles in a dc glow discharge in inert gases were systematically studied. A special automated system and software were developed for data acquisition and processing. It was found that the shape and volume of a dust cloud depend on discharge conditions and the number of particle injections, whereas the average interparticle distance does not depend on the number of injections. Despite of a low concentration of macroparticles, their effect on the electric and optical parameters of a plasma was noticeable in some cases. These results demonstrate that dust structures in a plasma are a special type of matter and currently available theoretical models cannot adequately describe the majority of the observed phenomena.