Our new article is published in Applied Physics Letters. It is titled “Laser beam properties control and microfluidic confinement control thermocavitation”. In this study, Jelle and David collaborate with Jose Alfredo Alvarez-Chavez from the Optical Sciences group in Twente. We study thermocavitation in microfluidic confinement, which is the generation of a vapor bubble through CW laser heating. We compare experimental results and numerical simulations in which we analyze the energy transfer from the laser to the bubble. We find that the maximum temperature at nucleation is 237 °C, and that the bubble energy depends on the superheated liquid volume. This can be controlled through the laser parameters (power and beam size), as well as liquid volume in the channel.

These findings help us to further control the bubble and resulting jet for needle-free jet injection. This is vital for further control over the injection process to enable superficial and personalized injections.

The open-access full article can be found here: https://lnkd.in/e3jdxEdB