Interaction of a Contact Resonance of Microspheres with Surface Acoustic Waves

N. Boechler, J. K. Eliason, A. Kumar, A. A. Maznev, K. A. Nelson, and N. Fang

Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 036103 – Published 17 July 2013

Abstract

We study the interaction of surface acoustic waves (SAWs) with a contact-based vibrational resonance of $1 μ m$ silica microspheres forming a two-dimensional granular crystal adhered to a substrate. The laser-induced transient grating technique is used to excite SAWs and measure their dispersion. The measured dispersion curves exhibit “avoided crossing” behavior due to the hybridization of the SAWs with the microsphere resonance. We compare the measured dispersion curves with those predicted by our analytical model and find excellent agreement. The approach presented can be used to study the contact mechanics and adhesion of micro- and nanoparticles as well as the dynamics of microscale granular crystals.

Received 1 March 2013

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.036103

Authors & Affiliations

N. Boechler¹, J. K. Eliason², A. Kumar¹, A. A. Maznev², K. A. Nelson², and N. Fang¹

¹Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
²Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA