A non-contact optical method for measuring the temporal and spatial response of a liquid-liquid interface under the influence of an applied voltage

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Rochester. College of Engineering and Applied Science. Institute of Optics, 1985. This thesis was digitized by the Institute of Optics in 2014 and was determined to have lapsed into the public domain. If you are the author and have questions about the digitization of your work, please contact Kari Brick, Graduate Program Coordinator for the Institute of Optics, at kbrick@ur.rochester.edu. Other contact information for the Institute is available at http://www.optics.rochester.eduA non-contact optical method for measuring the wavelength of capillary ripples on a liquid-liquid interface is proposed and demonstrated. The dispersion relationship for the aforementioned capillary waves is derived, relating the wavelength to the interfacial tension. Measurements of the wavelength, and thus the interfacial tension, are presented and errors in these measurements discussed. Temporal measurements of the change in wavelength in response to an applied voltage, (electrocapillarity) are presented and an upper limit is presented for any spatial variation of the wavelength on the interface