title: Take off of small Leidenfrost droplets.
abstract: We put in evidence the unexpected behavior of Leidenfrost droplets at the later stage of their evaporation. We predict and observe that, below a critical size Rl, the droplets spontaneously take off due to the breakdown of the lubrication regime. We establish the theoretical relation between the droplet radius and its elevation. We predict that the vapor layer thickness increases when the droplets become smaller. A satisfactory agreement is found between the model and the experimental results performed on droplets of water and of ethanol.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Physique de la Matière Condensée, CNRS UMR 7366, Université de Nice Sophia-Antipolis, Parc Valrose 06108 Nice Cedex 2, France.
authors.forename: Franck
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Celestini
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Frisch
authors.forename: Yves
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Pomeau