Abstract
Microgravity experiments of dusty plasmas have been performed
for a few decades on the International Space Station. The
plasmas are generated by alternative current discharge. The dust particles
are levitating in the plasmas for a few hours. Heating the dust
particles and temperature on their surface are issues, since they are
composed of a kind of resin and they must be kept chemically stable.
The temperature on the surface of the dust particles were measured
by observing fluorescence from a dye impregnated on the resin as the
material of the dust particles. It was found to be stably held between
340 and 380 K in a range of plasma input power between 0.5 and 3.0
W. Conversely it was calculated in a model of heat exchange between
the dust particles and thermal fluxes from ion and neutral species.
Measured values and calculated ones were in good agreement. The
surface temperature ensured that the resin as the material of the dust
particles was not decomposed.
