Sizing of particles levitating in a glow discharge dusty plasma

The dust particle size distribution in a volume glow discharge dusty plasma is studied. Polydisperse quartz particles are used as a dust component. It is found that a dusty plasma forms in a glow discharge not only in a dust trap but also near the wall at the bottom of the discharge chamber. Dust objects in the latter region are large: they contain up to 30000 particles. The size of particles levitating in discharge striations is three times larger than that of particles levitating near the wall. The idea of using the glow discharge dusty plasma for particle-size fractionation of polydisperse powder is put forward.