Crystallization of a dusty plasma in the positive column of a glow discharge

The formation of macroscopic ordered structures in the standing striations of a stationary glow discharge in Ne is observed. A Coulomb quasicrystal is formed by spherical glass particles with diameters of 50–63 μm and charge Z p ~7·10 5 e . The interparticle distance is approximately 300 μm. This corresponds to a nonideality parameter Γ~5·10 4 , which leads to crystallization in the Yukawa model. The factors leading to the formation of a quasicrystal in the striations are discussed.