Micromachines (Mar 2024)

Self-Sustaining Water Microdroplet Resonators Using 3D-Printed Microfluidics

  • Parker A. Awerkamp,
  • David Hill,
  • Davin Fish,
  • Kimi Wright,
  • Brandt Bashaw,
  • Gregory P. Nordin,
  • Ryan M. Camacho

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/mi15040423
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 15, no. 4
p. 423

Abstract

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Microdroplet resonators provide an excellent tool for optical studies of water, but water microdroplets are difficult to maintain outside a carefully controlled environment. We present a method for maintaining a water microdroplet resonator on a 3D-printed hydrophobic surface in an ambient environment. The droplet is maintained through a passive microfluidic system that supplies water to the droplet through a vertical channel at a rate equivalent to its evaporation. In this manner, we are able to create and passively maintain water microdroplet resonators with quality factors as high as 3×108.

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