title: Discontinuous meniscus location in tapered capillaries driven by pressure difference and dielectrophoretic forces.
abstract: We calculate the meniscus location in tapered capillaries under the influence of pressure difference and dielectrophoretic forces with and without gravity. We find that the meniscus location can be a discontinuous function of the pressure difference or the applied voltage and that the meniscus can "jump" to one end or another of the capillary. Phase diagrams are given as a function of the pressure and voltage, depending on the geometrical parameters of the system. We further consider a revision of the dielectric rise under dielectrophoretic force in wedge capillaries and in the case of electrowetting, where the dielectrophoretic force is a small perturbation. Finally, we also find discontinuous liquid-gas interface location in the case of liquid penetration into closed volumes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, 84105 Beer-Sheva, Israel.
authors.forename: Yoav
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tsori