Acoustically bound microfluidic bubble crystals

Bubbles confined in microchannels self-organize without directly contacting one another when excited by an external acoustic field. The bubbles tend to form periodic "crystal"-like lattices with a finite interbubble distance. This equilibrium distance can be adjusted by simply tuning the a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPhysical review letters Vol. 106; no. 13; p. 134501
Main Authors Rabaud, David, Thibault, Pierre, Mathieu, Mylène, Marmottant, Philippe
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 29.03.2011
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Summary:Bubbles confined in microchannels self-organize without directly contacting one another when excited by an external acoustic field. The bubbles tend to form periodic "crystal"-like lattices with a finite interbubble distance. This equilibrium distance can be adjusted by simply tuning the acoustic frequency. This new type of crystal is purely mediated by acoustic surface waves emitted by the pulsating bubbles. Because these waves are reflected at the channel boundaries, the bubbles interact with their own images across the boundary.
ISSN:1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.134501