Center for Materials Research (LaMa)

Picture of the Month - January 2022

Plasma crystals in Einstein's elevator

Microparticles (red dots) inside the "PKE-Nefedov" plasma chamber pick up electrons from the plasma (purple glow) and interact electrostatically with each other forming a regular structure, a so-called plasma crystal (large image). Here we can study the behaviour of a crystalline structure using a simple video camera. For optimum conditions we do this in weightlessness (microgravity), e.g. onboard the international space station ISS or in a drop tower. In September 2021 our group visited the "Einstein Elevator" at the University of Hannover, a new facility that allows to drop the setup from 20m height (see scheme on the left side), thus creating 2 seconds of microgravity during the free fall (according to Einstein's Gedankenexperiment). The video data of more than 50 drops are now under investigation for a PhD thesis. Inset: The group members of the Einstein Elevator (left) and JLU (right) with the plasma chamber in front of the elevator's gondola.

Image credits: C. Lotz, HITec, Leibniz University Hannover; M. Kretschmer (JLU, Institute of Experimental Physics I). WWW: einstein-elevator.de

This picture was submitted by Dr. Michael Kretschmer (group of Prof. Dr. Markus Thoma).

Further insights into the research activities of the ZfM groups can be found in the Gallery.