Shock melting of a two-dimensional complex (dusty) plasma.
Shock waves with a linear front were experimentally studied in a monolayer hexagonal Yukawa lattice which was formed from charged monodisperse plastic microspheres and levitated in the sheath of a radio-frequency discharge. It was found that the shock can cause phase transitions from a crystalline to gaslike and liquidlike states. Melting occurred in two stages. First, the lattice was compressed in the direction of shock propagation and second, the particle velocities were randomized a few lattice lines downstream. The Mach number of the shock reached 2.7.
Samsonov
D
D
CIPS, Max-Planck-Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik, D-85740 Garching, Germany.
Zhdanov
S K
SK
Quinn
R A
RA
Popel
S I
SI
Morfill
G E
GE