A Miniature Explosion within a Droplet

G. L. Heijnen,
Physics of Fluids, Faculty of Sciences, University of Twente, The Netherlands

P. A. Quinto-Su,
School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Division of Physics and Applied Physics, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

X. Zhao,
School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Division of Physics and Applied Physics, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

C.D. Ohl, (cdohl@ntu.edu.sg)
School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Division of Physics and Applied Physics, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

A miniature explosion initiated within a droplet of 6 mm diameter and sitting on a glass plate leads to the upward ejection of a fast liquid jet. The explosion generated with a pulsed laser creates an expanding and then shrinking bubble. During the shrinkage of this bubble a second jet is formed, which surrounds the faster inner one. Both jet tips become instable, the inner jet forming a spherical droplet at its highest point, the outer one creates a crown shaped tip structure. A careful look into the droplet reveals the remains of the bubble arranged on a ring.
The picture is taken 0.4 milliseconds after the explosion with a consumer digital SLR camera (D200 from Nikon), a macro lens, and a home built strobe using a high power light emitting diode (P7 from Seoul Semiconductor).


The work is supported by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

The picture has not been published.