  A versatile linear dusty (complex) plasma device is designed to study the
transport and dynamical behavior of dust particles in a large volume. Diffused
inductively coupled plasma is generated in the background of argon gas. A novel
technique is used to introduce the dust particles in the main plasma by
striking a secondary direct current (DC) glow discharge. These dust particles
are found to get trapped in an electrostatic potential well which is formed due
to the combination of the ambipolar electric field caused by diffusive plasma
and the field produced by the charged glass wall of the vacuum chamber.
According to the requirements, the volume of the dust cloud can be controlled
very precisely by tuning the plasma and discharge parameters. The present
device can be used to address the underlying physics behind the transport of
dust particles, self excited dust acoustic waves and instabilities. The
detailed design of this device, plasma production and characterization,
trapping and transport of the dust particle and some of the preliminary
experimental results are presented.
