Orbital angular momentum transfer to stably trapped elastic particles in acoustical vortex beams

TL;DR

This study demonstrates controlled rotation of trapped elastic particles using ultrasonic vortex beams, revealing complex dissipation mechanisms affecting angular momentum transfer and emphasizing the importance of particle absorption properties.

Contribution

It introduces a torque balance model for particle rotation in acoustic vortex beams, accounting for bulk and boundary layer dissipation mechanisms, and challenges the applicability of Rayleigh scattering for small spheres.

Findings

Measured torque around 10 pNm at 40 W/cm² acoustic power.

Dissipation occurs in particle bulk and viscous boundary layer.

External flow influences the torque and rotation dynamics.

Abstract

The controlled rotation of solid particles trapped in a liquid by an ultrasonic vortex beam is observed. Single polystyrene beads, or clusters, can be trapped against gravity while simultaneously rotated. The induced rotation of a single particle is compared to a torque balance model accounting for the acoustic response of the particle. The measured torque ($\sim 10$~pNm for a driving acoustic power $\sim 40$~W/cm$^2$) suggests two dominating dissipation mechanisms of the acoustic orbital angular momentum responsible for the observed rotation. The first takes place in the bulk of the absorbing particle, whilst the second arises as dissipation in the viscous boundary layer in the surrounding fluid. Importantly, the dissipation processes affect both the dipolar and quadrupolar particle vibration modes suggesting that the restriction to the well-known Rayleigh scattering regime is invalid to model the total torque even for spheres much smaller than the sound wavelength. The findings show that a precise knowledge of the probe elastic absorption properties is crucial to perform rheological measurements with manoeuvrable trapped spheres in viscous liquids. Further results suggest that the external rotational steady flow must be included in the balance and can play an important role in other liquids.