Study of Mode-Coupling Instabilities in a Plasma Crystal Using N-body Simulations

Experimentally observed melting of two-dimensional dusty plasma crystals is theorized to occur due to the mode-coupling instability (MCI). The coupling between the transverse and longitudinal wave modes of single-layered crystalline structure occurs largely due the interaction of dust grains with ion wake-fields, non-homogenous regions of positive charge that form downstream of each grain. Whereas MCI-induced melting is widely studied in experimental settings, the study of ion wakes predominantly relies on numerical simulations. We present our work on reproducing MCI melting of a plasma crystal in real time using a GPU-accelerated N-body simulation that implements a simplified point-charge model of the ion wake where the wake is allowed to vary dynamically. The simulation replicates the conditions inside of a GEC RF Reference Cell containing an argon plasma. The characteristics of the ion wakes as a function of plasma power, pressure, and grain separation are obtained from the numerical model DRIAD. We aim to provide a tool that can harness the versatility of computer models without sacrificing the interactivity of an experimental setup. Such a tool will facilitate the study of the interactions between ion wake-fields and MCIs.