Search

We address an experimental observation of pattern formation in a magnetised rf plasma. The experiments are carried out in a electrically grounded aluminium chamber which is housed inside a rotatable superconducting magnetic coil. The plasma is formed by applying a rf voltage in parallel plate electrodes in push-pull mode under the background of argon gas. The time evolution of plasma intensity shows that a homogeneous plasma breaks into several concentric radial spatiotemoral bright and dark rings. These rings propagate radially at considerably low pressure and a constant magnetic field. These patterns are observed to trap small dust particles/grains in their potential. Exploiting this property of the patterns, a novel technique to measure the electric field associated with the patterns is described. The resulting estimates of the corresponding field intensity are presented. At other specific discharge parameters the plasma shows a range of special type of characteristic structures observed in certain other chemical, mechanical and biological systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]