A kinetic model for low-pressure glow discharges in the presence of dust particles

A kinetic model for low-pressure dusty plasmas is developed. The Boltzmann and the dust charging balance equations are solved self-consistently. The dependence of the dust particle surface potential on plasma parameters and the effects of particulate contamination on the electron energy distribution are investigated for direct-current argon glow discharges. It is shown that the dust particle surface potential obtained from this model is higher than that obtained for a Maxwellian electron distribution, and that the higher energy portion of the electron distribution is reduced in the presence of dust particles. Electron-dust collection and electron - atom inelastic collisions are the main electron energy loss processes, and the electron energy loss due to electron-dust elastic collision is negligibly small for under the discharge conditions considered in this work, where E is the externally applied electric field and N is the argon atom density.