title: Convection flows driven by laser heating of a liquid layer.
abstract: When a fluid is heated by the absorption of a continuous laser wave, the fluid density decreases in the heated area. This induces a pressure gradient that generates internal motion of the fluid. Due to mass conservation, convection eddies emerge in the sample. To investigate these laser-driven bulk flows at the microscopic scale, we built a setup to perform temperature measurements with a fluorescent-sensitive dye on the one hand, and measured the flow pattern at different beam powers, using a particle image velocimetry technique on the other hand. Temperature measurements were also used in numerical simulations in order to compare predictions to the experimental velocity profiles. The combination of our numerical and experimental approaches allows a detailed description of the convection flows induced by the absorption of light, which reveals a transition between a thin and a thick liquid layer regime. This supports the basis of optothermal approaches for microfluidic applications.
authors.affiliation: University of Bordeaux, LOMA, UMR 5798, F-33400 Talence, France and CNRS, LOMA, UMR 5798, F-33400 Talence, France.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rivière
authors.affiliation: University of Bordeaux, LOMA, UMR 5798, F-33400 Talence, France and CNRS, LOMA, UMR 5798, F-33400 Talence, France.
authors.forename: Bertrand
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Selva
authors.affiliation: University of Bordeaux, LOMA, UMR 5798, F-33400 Talence, France and CNRS, LOMA, UMR 5798, F-33400 Talence, France.
authors.forename: Hamza
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chraibi
authors.affiliation: University of Bordeaux, LOMA, UMR 5798, F-33400 Talence, France and CNRS, LOMA, UMR 5798, F-33400 Talence, France.
authors.forename: Ulysse
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Delabre
authors.affiliation: University of Bordeaux, LOMA, UMR 5798, F-33400 Talence, France and CNRS, LOMA, UMR 5798, F-33400 Talence, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Pierre
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Delville