Debye length
Debye length
In plasmas and electrolytes the Debye length (also called Debye radius), named after the Dutch physicist and physical chemist Peter Debye, is the measure of a charge carrier's net electrostatic effect in solution, and how far those electrostatic effects persist. A Debye sphere is a volume whose radius is the Debye length, in which there is a sphere of influence, and outside of which charges are electrically screened. The notion of Debye length plays an important role in plasma physics, electrolytes and colloids (DLVO theory).
