Laser-Induced Cavitation for Controlling Crystallization from Solution

Nagaraj Nagalingam; Aswin Raghunathan; Vikram Korede; Christian Poelma; Carlas S. Smith; Remco Hartkamp; Johan T. Padding; Huseyin Burak Eral

doi:10.1103/physrevlett.131.124001

arXiv · 2302.01218

Laser-Induced Cavitation for Controlling Crystallization from Solution

Nagaraj Nagalingam·Aswin Raghunathan·Vikram Korede·Christian Poelma·Carlas S. Smith·Remco Hartkamp·Johan T. Padding·Huseyin Burak Eral

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Abstract

We demonstrate that a cavitation bubble initiated by a Nd:YAG laser pulse below breakdown threshold induces crystallization from supersaturated aqueous solutions with supersaturation and laser-energy dependent nucleation kinetics. Combining high-speed video microscopy and simulations, we argue that a competition between the dissipation of absorbed laser energy as latent and sensible heat dictates the solvent evaporation rate and creates a momentary supersaturation peak at the vapor-liquid interface. The number and morphology of crystals correlate to the characteristics of the simulated supersaturation peak.

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Nagaraj Nagalingam, Aswin Raghunathan, Vikram Korede, Christian Poelma, Carlas S. Smith, Remco Hartkamp, Johan T. Padding, Huseyin Burak Eral. 2023-02-02. Laser-Induced Cavitation for Controlling Crystallization from Solution. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.131.124001

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