Capillarity and dielectrophoresis of liquid deuterium

The ponderomotive force, exerted upon all dielectric liquids by a non-uniform electric field, can be used for the remote, voltage-controlled manipulation of 10 to 100 mu L volumes of cryogenic liquids. This liquid dielectrophoretic (DEP) effect, imposed by specially designed electrodes, combines with capillarity to influence the hydrostatic equilibria of liquid deuterium. A simple, one-dimensional model accurately predicts the measured meniscus rise of D(2) against gravity for sufficiently wide, parallel electrodes. For narrow electrodes, where the sidewalls influence the equilibrium, a finite element solution using the Surface Evolver software correctly describes the shape of the meniscus. A bifurcation phenomenon previously observed for room temperature dielectrics is also observed in liquid deuterium. Cryo-DEP actuation has potential applications ranging from metering precise volumes of liquid deuterium for laser target fuelling to manipulation of liquid nitrogen for cryo-preservation of biological samples.