Highly focused supersonic microjets
Abstract
The paper describes the production of thin, focused microjets with velocities up to 850 m/s by the rapid vaporization of a small mass of liquid in an open liquid-filled capillary. The vaporization is caused by the absorption of a low-energy laser pulse. A likely explanation of the observed phenomenon is based on the impingement of the shock wave caused by the nearly-instantaneous vaporization on the free surface of the liquid. An experimental study of the dependence of the jet velocity on several parameters is conducted, and a semi-empirical relation for its prediction is developed. The coherence of the jets, their high velocity and good reproducibility and controllability are unique features of the system described. A possible application is to the development of needle-free drug injection systems which are of great importance for global health care.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1112.2517,
title = {Highly focused supersonic microjets},
author = {Yoshiyuki Tagawa and Nikolai Oudalov and Claas Willem Visser and Ivo R. Peters and Deveraj van der Meer and Chao Sun and Andrea Prosperetti and Detlef Lohse},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1112.2517},
year = {2013}
}
Comments
10 pages, 11figures