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Updated: Jul 10, 2026

Fabrication, Operation and Flow Visualization in Surface-acoustic-wave-driven Acoustic-counterflow Microfluidics
Published on: August 27, 2013
Driven magnetic particles on a fluid surface: pattern assisted surface flows
M Belkin1, A Snezhko, I S Aranson
1Illinois Institute of Technology, 3101 South Dearborn Street, Chicago, Illinois 60616, USA.
Abstract:
Magnetic microparticles suspended on the liquid-air interface and subjected to an alternating magnetic field exhibit spontaneous formation of dynamic localized snake patterns. These patterns are accompanied by four large-scale hydrodynamic vortices located at the opposite ends of the snake patterns. We report detailed studies of these large-scale vortices and their relationship to the collective response of magnetic particles in the presence of an alternating magnetic field. We present a model based on the amplitude equation for surface waves coupled to the large-scale hydrodynamic mean flow equation. The model describes both the formation of the dynamic snake patterns and the induced structure of the experimentally observed hydrodynamic flows.
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