Transverse Waves in a Two-Dimensional Screened-Coulomb Crystal (Dusty Plasma)

Transverse shear waves were observed experimentally in a two-dimensional screened Coulomb crystal. They were excited by applying a chopped laser beam to a 2D dusty plasma, i.e., a monolayer of charged microspheres levitated in a plasma. Measurements of the dispersion relation reveal an acoustic, i.e., nondispersive, character over the entire range of wave numbers measured, 0.2<k(r)a/pi<0.7, where a is the interparticle spacing. Comparison to theory provides a measurement of the particles' charge.