title: Bridging dielectric fluids by light: a ray optics approach.
abstract: Rayleigh-Plateau instability is known to impose a stability limit for the length of a liquid bridge in weightless conditions. This fundamental limit may be exceeded by using a light field to form and stabilize dielectric fluid bridges (A. Casner, J.P. Delville, Europhys. Lett. 65, 337 (2004)). Using both new experimental data as well as a new theoretical approach, we show that both the size and the stability of such light-sustained dielectric bridge can be qualitatively explained. We present a ray optics model that encompasses the competition between surface tension effects and optical radiation pressure arising from total internal reflection inside the bridge. A critical power below which a liquid bridge can no longer be sustained by light is predicted and confirmed experimentally. The observed power dependence of the bridge diameter also agrees with the proposed stabilization mechanism.
authors.affiliation: Physics Department, James Franck Institute, University of Chicago, 929 East 57th Street, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA.
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Schroll
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Brasselet
authors.forename: W W
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Delville