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Laser-induced hydrodynamic instability of fluid interfaces
Alexis Casner1, Jean-Pierre Delville
1Centre de Physique Moléculaire Optique et Hertzienne, UMR CNRS/Université 5798, Université Bordeaux I, 351 Cours de la Libération, F-33405 Talence cedex, France. alexis.casner@cea.fr
Physical Review Letters
|May 7, 2003
Summary
Researchers discovered a new fluid instability driven by light. Optical radiation pressure from a laser causes a liquid interface to form a microjet, a phenomenon explained by light
Area of Science:
- Fluid dynamics
- Nonlinear optics
- Soft matter physics
Background:
- Liquid-liquid interfaces exhibit complex behaviors under external stimuli.
- Optical radiation pressure offers a non-contact method to manipulate interfaces.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate a novel class of fluid interface instability driven by electromagnetism.
- To characterize the onset and mechanism of laser-induced microjet formation.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing the optical radiation pressure of a continuous-wave (cw) laser.
- Bending a soft, near-critical liquid-liquid interface.
- Tuning interface softness via temperature and varying laser beam size.
Main Results:
- A new instability was observed, leading to a stationary, beam-centered liquid microjet.
- The instability onset was mapped by varying temperature and beam size.
- The mechanism was experimentally confirmed to rely on total internal reflection.
Conclusions:
- Electromagnetic forces can induce novel fluid instabilities.
- Total internal reflection at a deformed interface governs the instability onset.
- A universal scaling law for instability onset power was derived.