Kinetic instability of the dust acoustic mode in inhomogeneous, partially magnetized plasma with both positively and negatively charged grains

A purely kinetic instability of the dust acoustic mode in inhomogeneous plasmas is discussed. In the presence of a magnetic field, electrons and ions may be magnetized while at the same time dust grains may remain unmagnetized. Although the dynamics of the light species is strongly affected by the magnetic field, the dust acoustic mode may still propagate in practically any direction. The inhomogeneity implies a source of free energy for an instability that develops through the diamagnetic drift effects of the magnetized species. It is shown that this may be a powerful mechanism for the excitation of dust acoustic waves. The analysis presented in the work is also directly applicable to plasmas containing both positive and negative ions and electrons, provided that at least one of the two ion species is unmagnetized.status: publishe