Stability of dust voids

Dust voids are frequently observed as dust-free regions in a dusty plasma. Experiments demonstrate a variety of dust void structures such as stable or unstable voids, global heatbeat modes of oscillations of voids, dust voids in the center of the chamber or near its walls. Theory shows that a dust void generally results from the balance of the electrostatic and the plasma (such as the ion drag) forces acting on a dust particle. Here, the stability theory of a void is developed and the void behavior is modeled. It is shown that sequences of stable and unstable void sizes can exist. The dynamics of dust in a plasma follows these stability characteristics leading to various stable and/or unstable dust void structures. 2005 American Institute of Physics.