Jumping Nanodroplets
A. Habenicht,1
M. Olapinski,2
F. Burmeister,3
P. Leiderer,1
J. Boneberg1
Flat gold nanostructures on inert substrates like glass or graphite
were illuminated by single intensive laser pulses with fluences
above the gold melting threshold. The liquid structures produced
in this way are far from their equilibrium shape, and a dewetting
process sets in. On a time scale of a few nanoseconds, the liquid
contracted toward a sphere. During this contraction, the center
of mass moved upward, which could lead to detachment of droplets
from the surface due to inertia. The resulting velocities were
on the order of 10 meters per second for droplets with radii
in the range of 100 nanometers.
2 Department of Physics and Center for Nanoscience, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Geschwister-Scholl-Platz 1, 80539 München, Germany.
3 Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials, Woehlerstrasse 11-13, 79108 Freiburg, Germany.
