Exploiting the Marangoni Effect to Initiate Instabilities and Direct the Assembly of Liquid Metal Filaments

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-22-2017

Abstract

Utilization of the Marangoni effect in a liquid metal is investigated, focusing on initiating instabilities to direct material assembly via the Rayleigh-Plateau instability. Thin (2 nm) copper (Cu) films are lithographically patterned onto thick (12 nm) nickel (Ni) strips to induce a surface energy gradient at the maximum wavelength of the filament instability predicted by Rayleigh-Plateau instability analysis. The pattern is irradiated with an 18 ns pulsed laser such that the pattern melts and the resultant Ni-Cu surface tension gradient induces Marangoni flows due to the difference in surface energies. The experimental results, supported by extensive direct numerical simulations, demonstrate that the Marangoni flow exceeds the capillary flow induced by the initial geometry, guiding instabilities such that final nanoparticle location is directed toward the regions of higher surface energy (Ni regions). Our work shows a route for manipulation, by means of the Marangoni effect, to direct the evolution of the surface instabilities and the resulting pattern formation.

Identifier

85027893451 (Scopus)

Publication Title

Langmuir

External Full Text Location

https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.langmuir.7b01655

e-ISSN

15205827

ISSN

07437463

PubMed ID

28731352

First Page

8123

Last Page

8128

Issue

33

Volume

33

Grant

1603780

Fund Ref

National Science Foundation

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