title: A multi-axis confocal rheoscope for studying shear flow of structured fluids.
abstract: We present a new design for a confocal rheoscope that enables uniform uniaxial or biaxial shear. The design consists of two precisely positioned parallel plates with a gap that can be adjusted down to 2 ±0.1 μm, allowing for the exploration of confinement effects. By using our shear cell in conjunction with a biaxial force measurement device and a high-speed confocal microscope, we are able to measure the real-time biaxial stress while simultaneously imaging the material three-dimensional structure. We illustrate the importance of the instrument capabilities by discussing the applications of this instrument in current and future research topics in colloidal suspensions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA.
authors.forename: Neil Y C
authors.initials: NY
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, Colby College, Waterville, Maine 04901, USA.
authors.forename: Jonathan H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: McCoy
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA.
authors.forename: Xiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA.
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Leahy
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, and Materials Research Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA.
authors.forename: Jacob N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Israelachvili
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA.
authors.forename: Itai
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Cohen