,,- University of Duisburg-Essen, Faculty of Physics, Germany (kai.stuers@uni-due.de)
Many processes in planet formation are not yet understood. Whereas µm-sized dust particles grow to mm-sized aggregates by collisions, further growth beyond mm-size is halted by too small bounding energies [1]. Previous experiments underline the importance of charge to overcome this barrier [2]. Still, there are open questions regarding the stability and limits of this growth. In recent microgravity experiments at the ZARM drop tower, we brought tribocharged clusters into collision. The principle of our experimental setup and first insights are presented.
[1] G. Wurm and J. Teiser, Nat Rev Phys 3, 405 (2021).
[2] T. Steinpilz et al., Nat. Phys. 16, 225 (2020).
How to cite: Stuers, K., Onyeagusi, F. C., Völke, G., Wurm, G., and Teiser, J.: Collisions of charged clusters in microgravity, EPSC-DPS Joint Meeting 2025, Helsinki, Finland, 7–12 Sep 2025, EPSC-DPS2025-707, https://doi.org/10.5194/epsc-dps2025-707, 2025.
