Role of the shadowing force in the formation of a three-dimensional dust crystal

The charged dust grains embedded in a plasma may attract each other due to a shadowing force that is caused by asymmetrical ion flow to the grains. The effect of this attractive force on the structure of a three-dimensional dust crystal has been investigated in this paper by using molecular dynamics simulation. A comparative study has been conducted on the effects of the purely repulsive Yukawa (Debye?H?ckel) and the combined Yukawa?shadowing potential on phase transition of the dust crystal from a solid to fluid state and then to a gaseous state. It is seen from this study that the shadowing force becomes dominant for grains with large size and for large values of the screening constant ?.