Collaborative Research: ECLIPSE: Physical and Chemical Insights into Particle-Plasma Interactions in Dusty Plasma using Optical Trapping and Multi-Fold Laser Diagnostics

该奖项支持密西西比州立大学和奥本大学之间的合作项目，以开发一种新的方法来捕获和控制低温等离子体中的尘埃颗粒。低温等离子体是部分电离的气体，包括电子、离子和中性分子。 在低温等离子体中引入的小固体颗粒或灰尘可以带电并克服重力悬浮。 尘埃等离子体在太空中很常见，例如彗星的尾巴和土星环，以及在半导体工业中，尘埃等离子体可以在计算机芯片的制造过程中形成。 悬浮和移动粉尘的控制是基础等离子体物理研究和工业应用的挑战。 这个合作项目允许开发一种新的方法来捕捉尘埃粒子在等离子体结合尖端的光学和激光诊断技术在密西西比州立大学与先进的尘埃等离子体系统在奥本大学。 该项目还为来自历史上被排斥的社区的研究生和本科生提供了获得面向工业应用的等离子体科学实践经验的机会。该合作项目将解决尘埃等离子体领域的关键挑战之一：“等离子体-尘埃颗粒相互作用的调整，用于精确控制纳米和微米尺寸颗粒的轨迹和生长”如2020年等离子体科学十年评估所述。一种新型的光学捕获技术将被设计用于主动地固定等离子体中的单个尘埃颗粒，并以受控的方式将它们传输到设备中的任何地方。此外，多重激光诊断技术将用于测量物理和化学过程产生的受影响的等离子体参数，从而帮助理解粒子-等离子体相互作用，粒子充电行为，以及在微观水平上的反应性尘埃等离子体中的粒子生长。本研究所发展的单粒子尘埃等离子体诊断技术，可应用于其他尘埃等离子体，如磁化尘埃等离子体，以及工业上的等离子体制造和控制。合作研究小组的专业知识的协同作用，使基础尘埃等离子体研究在更深层次上具有前所未有的精度，并提供了一个新的平台，以培养未来的激光劳动力-该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查进行评估，被认为值得支持的搜索.

This award supports a collaborative project between Mississippi State University and Auburn University to develop a novel method to trap and control dust particles in a low temperature plasma. Low temperature plasmas are partially ionized gases, comprising of electrons, ions and neutral molecules. Small solid particles, or dust, introduced in a low temperature plasma can get charged and become suspended against the force of gravity. Dusty plasmas are common in space, such as tails of comets and the rings of Saturn, and in the semiconductor industry, where dusty plasmas can form during manufacturing of computer chips. Control of floating and moving dust is a challenge for both fundamental plasma physics studies and the industrial applications. This collaborative project allows the development of a novel method to trap dust particles in plasmas by combining cutting-edge optical and laser diagnostic techniques at Mississippi State University with advanced dusty plasma systems at Auburn University. The project also provides opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students from historically excluded communities to obtain hands-on plasma science experience geared toward industrial applications.This collaborative project will address one of the key challenges in the field of dusty plasmas: “Tuning of plasma - dust grain interactions for precision control of trajectories and growth of nanometer and micrometer size particles” as stated in the 2020 Decadal Assessment of Plasma Science. A novel optical trapping technology will be designed to actively pin down single dust particles in the plasma and to transport them in a controlled way anywhere in the device. In addition, multifold laser diagnostic techniques will be used to measure the impacted plasma parameters resulting from physical and chemical processes, thus aiding understanding of particle-plasma interactions, particle charging behavior, and particle growth in a reactive dusty plasma at the microscopic level. The single-particle dusty plasma diagnostic techniques developed in this project can be readily adopted to other dusty plasmas such as magnetized dusty plasma, and for plasma fabrication and control in the industry. The synergy of the expertise of the collaborating research groups both enables fundamental dusty plasma research at a deeper level with unprecedented precision, and provides a new platform to grow future workforce in laser-based diagnostics and plasma physics at two NSF EPSCoR jurisdictions.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.