Effect of Dust Particle Growth on the Emission Spectrum of a Complex Plasma

The growth of dust particles in a plasma can drastically change the plasma´s properties; importantly, it can affect the electron energy distribution function. We have performed optical emission spectroscopy on an RF sputtering discharge in argon during dust particle growth to analyze this change. We find that the intensities of all of the argon emission lines increase, indicating an increase in the number of high-energy electrons as a result of dust growth.