PKE-Nefedov*: plasma crystal experiments on the International Space Station

Nonlinear structures of strongly coupled complex plasmas in the proximity of a presheath/sheath edge

“…In this paper, however, we address the situation when the gravitational force acting on the particles is negligible, the particles are strongly coupled and the dust cloud extends over the discharge plasma occupying the volume up to a boundary presheath/sheath. These conditions could be relevant for studies of complex plasmas under microgravity conditions (see, e.g., [15]- [18]), for thermophoretically levitated systems [19], for experiments on nanoparticle coagulation [20] and for processing plasmas dealing also with very small (submicron/nanometer-sized) particles [21,22].…”

Dusty Plasmas in the Laboratory, Industry, and Space

“…The prospect of a weightless laboratory environment was so attractive that the first physics experiment on the International Space Station (ISS), begun in February 2001, was a dusty-plasma experiment. 15 The experiment is a German-Russian collaboration. The plasma chamber, built in Germany for the space station, has been named the Nefedov Plasma Crystal…”

Complex Plasma Research under Microgravity Conditions: PK‐3 Plus Laboratory on the International Space Station

“…The first laboratory, PKE-Nefedov, has already provided great insight into the behavior of complex plasma under microgravity conditions [3][4][5][6]. Fundamental investigations, like the formation of a particle free void in the center of the microparticle cloud induced by the ion drag force underestimated by the state of the art theory, which has been improved by the adaption to the new experimental results [7], or the first observation of bcc structures in plasma crystals [3] are only a few of the interesting results obtained there. The follow-up laboratory, PK-3 Plus, has been improved considerably compared to the first one and has been equipped with new diagnostic tools [8].…”