Ratchet-like topological structures for the control of microdrops

The concepts of 'force-free' motion can be applied to liquid microdrops confined in asymmetrically structured geometries to set them into motion. We illustrate this idea with several experiments in which fluctuations in the drop shape and wetting properties are triggered by different physi...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied physics. A, Materials science & processing Vol. 75; no. 2; pp. 207 - 212
Main Authors: Buguin, A., Talini, L., Silberzan, P.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: 01-08-2002
Subjects:
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The concepts of 'force-free' motion can be applied to liquid microdrops confined in asymmetrically structured geometries to set them into motion. We illustrate this idea with several experiments in which fluctuations in the drop shape and wetting properties are triggered by different physical means either by acting transversally to the motion with an on/off electric field, or along this motion with a low-frequency electric field of zero mean value or by vibrating the substrate. These findings can find natural applications in the field of integrated analysis systems.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ISSN:0947-8396
1432-0630
DOI:10.1007/s003390201322