title: Shock melting of a two-dimensional complex (dusty) plasma.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: CIPS, Max-Planck-Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik, D-85740 Garching, Germany.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Samsonov
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Zhdanov
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Quinn
authors.forename: S I
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Popel
authors.forename: G E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Morfill