Interaction of a Soliton With a Dislocation in Complex Plasmas

A dislocation is a topological defect where the atoms are out of position in a crystalline structure. It plays an important role in the theory of plasticity for the stability and the strength of materials and in melting processes. In this paper, we report an experimental and numerical study of the interaction between such a dislocation and a compressional solitary wave in 2-D strongly coupled plasma crystals. Complex plasmas consist of micrometer-sized spheres immersed into an ordinary ion-electron plasma. They can exist in solid, liquid, and gaseous states and are model systems to study dynamic phenomena.