Shaping and controlled fragmentation of liquid metal droplets through cavitation

• Main Authors: Krivokorytov, M. S., Lakatosh, B. V., Vinokhodov, A. Yu., Sidelnikov, Yu. V., Kompanets, V. O., Krivtsun, V. M., Koshelev, K. N., Medvedev, V. V., Zeng, Qingyun, Ohl, Claus Dieter
• Other Authors: School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: High-speed Jetting; Cavitation
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/87505; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/45426
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Targeting micrometer sized metal droplets with near-infrared sub-picosecond laser pulses generates intense stress-confined acoustic waves within the droplet. Spherical focusing amplifies their pressures. The rarefaction wave nucleates cavitation at the center of the droplet, which explosively expands with a repeatable fragmentation scenario resulting into high-speed jetting. We predict the number of jets as a function of the laser energy by coupling the cavitation bubble dynamics with Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities. This provides a path to control cavitation and droplet shaping of liquid metals in particular for their use as targets in extreme-UV light sources.