What is it about?
We have developed 'MightyLev', a new acoustic levitation device capable of levitating heavy materials such as lead with exceptional stability. Combined with infrared laser heating, metallic and oxide materials can be melted while they remain suspended in mid-air, reaching temperatures above 1500 K. Using schlieren imaging, we can directly observe the otherwise invisible acoustic field during heating, helping us to gain valuable insights into how heating impacts the stability of levitated materials. This understanding will help us refine the system for future applications, enabling precise levitation control for high-temperature processing of materials without the need for containers.
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Why is it important?
By removing the need for containers, levitation enables high-temperature processing of materials that may react with or melt traditional furnace crucibles. This work represents a significant advance in the capabilities of acoustic for the levitation for medium- to high-density materials at high temperatures. High-temperature levitation allows for the fabrication of new crystalline and non-crystalline materials with novel functional properties. This is beneficial to both academic and industry researchers to accelerate materials discovery using high-temperature materials processing and by enabling contact-free chemical and structural analysis using cutting-edge spectroscopy and x-ray scattering techniques at extreme temperatures. Potential applications include the high-temperature fabrication of novel glass materials, studying volcanic melts and planetary formation processes, and the development of advanced fission and fusion reactor coolants.
Perspectives
The ability to levitate medium- to high-density materials in mid-air, and heat them using a laser, is an invaluable technique for high-temperature materials processing. “MightyLev” achieves this using 236 ultrasonic transducers arranged in opposed hemispherical arrays. MightyLev is capable of highly stable levitation of high-density materials up to at least 11.3 g cm−3, and in combination with laser-heating can levitate materials at temperatures above 1500 K.
Dr James Drewitt
University of Bristol
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: MightyLev: An acoustic levitator for high-temperature containerless processing of medium- to high-density materials, Review of Scientific Instruments, October 2024, American Institute of Physics,
DOI: 10.1063/5.0221899.
You can read the full text:
Resources
Acoustic levitation of dense solids
Demonstration of acoustic levitation of dense solids in the MightyLev ultrasonic levitator. MightyLev is constructed from two opposed arrays of 118 ultrasonic transducers operating at 40 kHz to generate an acoustic standing wave. Dense objects can be levitated by placing them in the strong acoustic trap at the central node of the standing wave.
Acoustic levitation with laser heating
Laser heating a 1 mm diameter basalt sphere levitated using the MightyLev ultrasonic levitation device.
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