Project Details
Projekt
Highspeed Microscopy System
Subject Area
Statistical Physics, Nonlinear Dynamics, Complex Systems, Soft and Fluid Matter, Biological Physics
Term
Funded in 2025
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 563667739
Fast processes are ubiquitous in the flows of complex fluids, the contact mechanics of soft matter, and living biological cells. They often occur in connection with singularities, which gives them a self-similar character that is described by a scaling law in space and time. The small time and length scales involved make it difficult to experimentally record such processes, as they have to be observed with high spatial and temporal resolution. With the help of the requested instrument, fast processes in soft and living matter as well as flows in complex fluids will be investigated. The planned experiments can be substantiated with the help of two examples: (i) In drops of volatile, multiphase liquids, evaporation induces concentration gradients. These generate flows that diverge in a singularity at the edge of the drop. This convection significantly influences the wetting behavior of complex liquids, which, for example, plays a decisive role in the production technology of semiconductor components. (ii) At the edges of adherent contacts of soft materials, a stress singularity emerges, similar to the crack singularity in material failure. On a microscopic scale, this singularity is regularized by capillary forces, as recently discovered. The associated consequences for the dynamics of such boundaries, when adherent contacts are loosened, are not yet understood. In order to experimentally investigate such processes in various systems, a high-speed microscopy system consisting of an inverted, motorized fluorescence microscope and a high-speed camera is requested. The inverted microscope is equipped with different observation modes (bright field & fluorescence) and is largely motorized in order to allow tracking of spatially evolving processes. The high-speed camera is equipped with a global shutter, high sensitivity and high resolution, so that fast-moving processes can be captured with high spatio-temporal resolution.
DFG Programme
Major Research Instrumentation
Major Instrumentation
Hochgeschwindigkeits-Mikroskopiesystem
Instrumentation Group
5090 Spezialmikroskope
Applicant Institution
Universität Konstanz
