Studies of acousto-electrically levitated drop and particle clusters and arrays

Research into the behavior of clusters and arrays of fluid or solid particles is made possible by acousto-electric levitation in air and charging of “seed” droplets (10–30 μm in diameter) which come together in 2-D clusters (with up to 300 droplets). Such clusters condense into larger drops (e.g., 50–300 μm) which form uniformly spaced 2-D arrays of monodispersed drops. Similar behavior has been observed for charged solid particles. This research has applications to studies of drop evaporation, combustion, nucleation, and materials synthesis.