Effects of trapped electrons on the sheath at the boundary of a dusty plasma

Abstract

Abstract In the present paper, the characteristic behaviors of the sheath in an unmagnetized dusty plasma that contained trapped electrons, cold ions, and variable-charged dusts are investigated, based on the Sagdeev potential approach. The result shows that both the formation and structure of the sheath are modified by the trapped electrons. At the sheath edge, the critical ion Mach number decreases as the trapping parameter β increases. It is noted that the effect of electron trapping on the ion-entering-sheath-velocity is indirect, and closely related to the dust charge variation. In the sheath, the increased β leads to the enlargement of the sheath thickness and the absolute value of electrostatic potential, which results in the redistribution of particle densities. Moreover, the results of the Maxwellian case are essentially recovered when β = 1. As expected, the present results can give more insight into the interaction processes that happened on the plasma-wall interface.