Photophoretic trampoline - Interaction of single airborne absorbing droplets with light

Abstract

We present the light-induced manipulation of absorbing liquid droplets in air. Ink droplets from a printer cartridge are used to demonstrate that absorbing liquids - just like their solid counterparts - can interact with regions of high light intensity due to the photophoretic force. It is shown that droplets follow a quasi-ballistic trajectory after bouncing off a high intensity light sheet. We estimate the intensities necessary for this rebound of airborne droplets and change the droplet trajectories through a variation of the manipulating light field. © 2012 American Institute of Physics.