We present a novel, fully integrated microfluidic bubble trap and debubbler. The 2-layer structure, based on a PDMS valve design, utilizes a featured membrane to stop bubble progression through the device. A pneumatic chamber directly above the trap is evacuated, and the bubble is pulled out through the gas-permeable PDMS membrane. Normal device operation, including continuous flow at atmospher...

The behavior of bubbles confined in tubes and channels is important in medical and industrial applications. In these small spaces, traditional means of experimentally observing bubble dynamics are often impossible or significantly perturb the system. A laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV) requires a narrow (<1 mm diameter) line-of-sight access for the beam and illumination of the bubble does not pert...

Cavitation bubbles were generated by the 193 nm argon fluoride excimer laser delivered with a specially designed tip into absorbing NaCl solution. The dynamics of bubble formation and collapse have been studied using fast flash photomicrography. The bubble dimensions were measured at different time delays as a function of the tip exit diameter, the energy fluence of the laser, and the NaCl conc...

A single bubble of air in water can emit pulses of blue-white light that have durations of less than 50 ps while it is oscillating in an acoustic standing wave. The emission is called sonoluminescence. A knowledge of the bubble diameter throughout the cycle, and in particular near the time of sonoluminescence emission, can provide important information about the phenomenon. A new Mie scattering...

We designed and built a microfluidic device for the generation of liquid jets produced by thermocavitation. A continuous wave (CW) laser was focused inside a micro-chamber filled with a light-absorbing solution to create a rapidly expanding vapor bubble. The chamber is connected to a micro-channel which focuses and ejects the liquid jet through the exit. The bubble growth and the jet velocity w...

Opto-thermocapillary flow-addressed bubble (OFB) microrobots are a potential tool for the efficient transportation of micro-objects. This microrobot system uses light patterns to generate thermal gradients within a liquid medium, creating thermocapillary forces that actuate the bubble microrobots. An interactive control system that includes scanning mirrors and a touchscreen interface was devel...

We use a rigid axisymetric microfluidic flow focusing device to produce monodisperse bubbles, dispersed in a surfactant solution. The gas volume fraction of the dispersion collected out of this device can be as large as 90%, demonstrating that foam with solid-like viscoelastic properties can be produced in this way. The polydispersity of the bubbles is so low that we observe crystallization of ...

This paper reports on an experimental study of the splitting instability of an air bubble a few centimetres in diameter placed in a sealed cylindrical cell filled with liquid and submitted to vertical oscillations. The response of the bubble to the oscillations is observed with a high-speed video camera. It is found that the bubble dynamics is closely associated with the acceleration of the cel...