FARLEY-BUNEMAN INSTABILITY IN A DUSTY PLASMA

The effect of charged dust on the Farley-Buneman instability is invest igated. Linear kinetic theory is used to estimate the critical electro n drift in the presence of either negatively or positively charged dus t. The charge-to-mass ratio of the dust is much smaller than that of t he ions, and the dust influences the instability through its effect on equilibrium charge neutrality. It is shown that in certain regimes, t he critical drift can decrease as the charge density carried by negati vely charged dust increases. Possible application to dusty plasmas in the upper D/lower E region boundary region of the Earth's ionosphere i s discussed. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.