Dust structures in cryogenic gas discharges

Results are given of experimental investigations of dust structures of monodisperse particles in a low-pressure dc glow discharge at temperatures of liquid nitrogen (T=77K) and liquid helium (T=4.2K). It is found that the cooling of discharge at invariant discharge current and neutral gas density causes a decrease in the interparticle spacing in structures and an increase in the kinetic energy of dust particles. The forming of a superdense dust structure with free boundaries is observed for the first time at 4.2K.