Experimental observation of crystalline particle flows in toroidal dust clouds

The dust flow in a toroidal dust trap is studied experimentally. The flow is driven by the Hall component of the ion drag force in a magnetized plasma. Dust density waves are found in a torus with a large minor radius a, which allows for several wavelength, 2a>5λ, in the (mostly) radial direction of the ion flow. Beyond an intermediate state with radial sloshing oscillations, a crystalline dust flow with suppressed wave activity could be realized for 2a<2λ. The particles arrange themselves in distinct layers with hexagonal-like local order. Smooth transitions between states with different numbers of layers are found in the inhomogeneous flow.