Phenomenological Studies of an Indium-Tin-Oxide (ITO) Box in a RF Plasma*

Studies using either a glass box or an Indium-Tin-Oxide (ITO) coated glass box, placed on the lower powered electrode of a GEC RF reference cell have become popular in the field of complex plasmas due to their ability to provide a more controlled environment. However, recent experimental data have shown two independent confinement regions within such boxes, impacting both dust-dust and dust-plasma interaction measurements. This study presents a series of potential maps created using a passive probe mounted on CASPER's S-100 nano-manipulator. The data collected has been correlated into potential field maps and is compared against dust behavior for various experimental operating conditions. The impact of these results on current complex plasma measurements will be discussed.