Abstract
Rayleigh-Plateau instability is known to impose a stability limit for the length of a liquid bridge in weightless conditions. This fundamental limit may be exceeded by using a light field to form and stabilize dielectric fluid bridges (A. Casner, J.P. Delville, Europhys. Lett. 65, 337 (2004)). Using both new experimental data as well as a new theoretical approach, we show that both the size and the stability of such light-sustained dielectric bridge can be qualitatively explained. We present a ray optics model that encompasses the competition between surface tension effects and optical radiation pressure arising from total internal reflection inside the bridge. A critical power below which a liquid bridge can no longer be sustained by light is predicted and confirmed experimentally. The observed power dependence of the bridge diameter also agrees with the proposed stabilization mechanism.
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Schroll, R.D., Brasselet, E., Zhang, W.W. et al. Bridging dielectric fluids by light: A ray optics approach. Eur. Phys. J. E 26, 405–409 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2008-10336-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2008-10336-1