The microfluidic jukebox.
Music is a form of art interweaving people of all walks of life. Through subtle changes in frequencies, a succession of musical notes forms a melody which is capable of mesmerizing the minds of people. With the advances in technology, we are now able to generate music electronically without relying solely on physical instruments. Here, we demonstrate a musical interpretation of droplet-based microfluidics as a form of novel electronic musical instruments. Using the interplay of electric field and hydrodynamics in microfluidic devices, well controlled frequency patterns corresponding to musical tracks are generated in real time. This high-speed modulation of droplet frequency (and therefore of droplet sizes) may also provide solutions that reconciles high-throughput droplet production and the control of individual droplet at production which is needed for many biochemical or material synthesis applications.
1] Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-organization - Droplets, Membranes and Interfaces, Am Fassberg 17, D-37077 Goettingen, Germany [2].
Say Hwa
SH
Tan
1] Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-organization - Droplets, Membranes and Interfaces, Am Fassberg 17, D-37077 Goettingen, Germany [2].
Florine
F
Maes
Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-organization - Droplets, Membranes and Interfaces, Am Fassberg 17, D-37077 Goettingen, Germany.
Benoît
B
Semin
Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-organization - Droplets, Membranes and Interfaces, Am Fassberg 17, D-37077 Goettingen, Germany.
Jérémy
J
Vrignon
1] Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-organization - Droplets, Membranes and Interfaces, Am Fassberg 17, D-37077 Goettingen, Germany [2].
Jean-Christophe
JC
Baret