Charging of dust particles in an illuminated open complex plasma system

This paper presents an investigation of the charging of dust particles in a dusty plasma, irradiated by white light in near space at satellite altitudes. In deference to the recent emphasis on the character of openness in a dusty plasma, the investigation is based on the balance of the number density and energy of electrons, ions, and neutral particles as well as the energy balance of the dust particles and the charge neutrality condition. The accretion of electrons/ions and the emission of electrons by the dust particles, the ionization of neutral particles and the recombination of electrons and ions, and binary collisions between electrons, ions, and neutral atoms are the processes considered herein; the energy exchange associated with these processes has also been considered. The formulation is applicable to dusty plasmas in space and laboratory, where the photoemission of electrons is the dominant mechanism for electron generation. As an illustration a parametric study of the charging of the dust of Cs (cesium) coated bronze, LaB6, and CeO2, illuminated by solar radiation in a plasma environment, characteristic of day time ionosphere at an altitude of 150 km has been made. The theory is valid when the mean free path of electrons for accretion by the dust particles is less than the dimensions of the dust clouds.