title: Levitation of iridium and liquid mercury by ultrasound.
abstract: Single-axis acoustic levitation of the heaviest solid (iridium, rho=22.6 g cm(-3)) and liquid (mercury, rho=13.6 g cm(-3) on the Earth is achieved by greatly enhancing both the levitation force and stability through optimizing the geometric parameters of the levitator. The acoustically levitated Pb-Sn eutectic alloy melt (rho=8.5 g cm(-3)) is highly undercooled by up to 38 K, which results in a microstructural transition of "lamellae-broken lamellae-dendrites." The drastic enhancement of levitation capability indicates a broader application range of single-axis acoustic levitation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Physics, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: C D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Y J
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Lü
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wei