Laser manipulation of particles in dusty plasmas

The technique of laser manipulation of individual dust particles in strongly coupled dusty plasmas is presented and its application to different types of experiments is demonstrated. The laser manipulation has been used to excite horizontal compressional waves and Mach cones which are used to derive the horizontal particle interaction and screening strength. Lasers are also used to excite collective modes in finite Coulomb clusters ('artificial atoms'). From the laser excitation of vertical oscillations in the sheath of an rf discharge the dust particle charge is measured. Moreover, the vertical interaction between dust particles is shown to be non-reciprocal and attractive due to the ion streaming motion in the sheath where the dust particles are trapped.