Dust Transport on a Surface in Plasma

Motivated by the long-standing open questions about the physics of electrostatic lunar dust transport, we investigated the dynamics of dust particles on a conducting surface in laboratory plasmas. An initial dust pile was observed to spread to form a dust ring on a biased surface that collects the ions but repels the electrons in the plasma. Dust particles were also observed to deposit on a higher land, indicating a hopping motion. Potential contours were measured above the dust surface to understand the mechanisms of this dust transport process.