Producing two-dimensional dust clouds and clusters using a movable electrode for complex plasma and fundamental physics experiments

We report a Bidirectional Electrode Control Arm Assembly (BECAA) for precisely manipulating dust clouds levitated above the powered electrode in RF plasmas. The reported techniques allow the creation of perfectly 2D dust layers by eliminating off-plane particles by moving the electrode from outside the plasma chamber without altering the plasma conditions. The tilting and moving of electrodes using BECAA also allows the precise and repeatable elimination of dust particles one by one to achieve any desired number of grains N without trial and error. Simultaneously acquired top and side view images of dust clusters show that they are perfectly planar or 2D. A demonstration of clusters with N = 1–28 without changing the plasma conditions is presented to show the utility of BECAA for complex plasma and statistical physics experimental design. Demonstration videos and 3D printable part files are available for easy reproduction and adaptation of this new method to repeatably produce 2D clusters in existing RF plasma chambers.