Electrohydrodynamic instabilities in thin trilayer liquid films.

Conference · Mon Nov 01 04:00:00 EDT 2010

OSTI ID:1030369

Roberts, Scott A; Kumar, Satish ^[1]

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1. University of Minnesota %3CU%2B2013%3E Twin Cities

When DC or AC electric fields are applied to a thin liquid film, the interface may become unstable and form a series of pillars. We examine how the presence of a second liquid interface influences pillar dynamics and morphologies. For perfect dielectric films, linear stability analysis of a lubrication-approximation-based model shows that the root mean square voltage governs the pillar behavior. For leaky dielectric films, Floquet theory is applied to carry out the linear stability analysis, and reveals that the accumulation of free charge at each interface depends on the conductivities in the adjoining phases and that high frequencies of the AC electric field may be used to control this accumulation at each interface independently. The results presented here may of interest for the controlled creation of surface topographical features in applications such as patterned coatings and microelectronics.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Laboratories
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-94AL85000
• OSTI ID: 1030369
• Report Number(s): SAND2010-7652C
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
COATINGS
DIELECTRIC MATERIALS
ELECTRIC FIELDS
ELECTROHYDRODYNAMICS
ENGINEERS
MICROELECTRONICS
STABILITY