Molecular Dynamics Study of Diffusion Coefficient for Low-Temperature Dusty Plasmas in the Presence of External Electric Fields

Abstract

The effects of external electric field (E) on the diffusion coefficient of dust particles in low-temperature dusty plasmas (LT-DPs) have been computed through nonequilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD) simulations. The new simulation result was obtained by employing the integral formula of velocity autocorrelation functions (VACF) using the Green-Kubo relation. The normalized self-diffusion coefficient (D*) is investigated for different combinations of plasma coupling (Γ) and Debye screening (κ) parameters. The simulation outcome shows that the decreasing position of D* shifts toward Γ and also increased with the increase of κ. The D* linearly decreased with Γ and increased when applied external E increases. It is observed that the increasing trend of D* depends on the E strength. These investigations show that the present algorithm provides precise data with fast convergence and effects of κ, Γ, E. It is shown that the current NEMD techniques with applied external E can be employed to understand the microscopic mechanism of dusty plasmas.