We demonstrate levitation and three-dimensionally stable trapping of a wide variety of particles in a vacuum through thermophoretic force in the presence of a strong temperature gradient. Typical sizes of the trapped particles are between 10 μm and 1 mm at a pressure between 1 and 10 Torr. The trapping stability is provided radially by the increasing temperature field and vertically by the transition from the free molecule to hydrodynamic behavior of thermophoresis as the particles ascend. To determine the levitation force and test various theoretical models, we examine the levitation heights of spherical polyethylene spheres under various conditions. A good agreement with two theoretical models is concluded. Our system offers a platform to discover various thermophoretic phenomena and to simulate dynamics of interacting many-body systems in a microgravity environment.
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16 January 2017
Research Article|
January 20 2017
Stable thermophoretic trapping of generic particles at low pressures
Frankie Fung;
Frankie Fung
James Franck Institute, Enrico Fermi Institute and Department of Physics,
The University of Chicago
, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA
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Mykhaylo Usatyuk;
Mykhaylo Usatyuk
James Franck Institute, Enrico Fermi Institute and Department of Physics,
The University of Chicago
, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA
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B. J. DeSalvo;
B. J. DeSalvo
James Franck Institute, Enrico Fermi Institute and Department of Physics,
The University of Chicago
, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA
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Cheng Chin
Cheng Chin
a)
James Franck Institute, Enrico Fermi Institute and Department of Physics,
The University of Chicago
, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA
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a)
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Electronic mail: cchin@uchicago.edu
Appl. Phys. Lett. 110, 034102 (2017)
Article history
Received:
November 22 2016
Accepted:
January 09 2017
Citation
Frankie Fung, Mykhaylo Usatyuk, B. J. DeSalvo, Cheng Chin; Stable thermophoretic trapping of generic particles at low pressures. Appl. Phys. Lett. 16 January 2017; 110 (3): 034102. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4974489
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