Gravity-free hydraulic jumps and metal femtoliter cups

Phys Rev Lett. 2007 Apr 20;98(16):164502. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.98.164502. Epub 2007 Apr 17.

Abstract

Hydraulic jumps created by gravity are seen everyday in the kitchen sink. We show that at small scales a circular hydraulic jump can be created in the absence of gravity by surface tension. The theory is motivated by our experimental finding of a height discontinuity in spreading submicron molten metal droplets created by pulsed-laser ablation. By careful control of initial conditions, this leads to solid femtoliter cups of gold, silver, copper, niobium, and tin.