Contribution of the Dust Grains to the Damping of the Electromagnetic Waves Propagating in Plasma

Explanation for the damping of electromagnetic (EM) waves propagating in a plasma is given. Comparisons of the damping rates between a general plasma (with no dust grains) and a dusty plasma are given. It is found that, in a certain range of the EM waves, the damping rate in the dusty plasma is much larger than that in a general plasma. The damping rate mainly depends on the number density of the dust grains and the frequency of the EM waves.

I. Introduction

Recently, dusty plasma has been investigated both theoretically and experimentally [1]–[3]. Such plasmas are found widely in space, in the earth's atmosphere [2], [3], and in some devices [4]–[12]. The existence of dust acoustic waves (DAWs) and dust ion acoustic waves (DIAWs) in dusty plasmas has been theoretically reported [13] and confirmed later in the laboratory [15]–[18].