https://doi.org/10.1140/epjs/s11734-026-02275-1
Regular Article
Photovoltaic manipulation of dielectric liquid based on lithium niobate sandwich structures
1
Hebei Engineering Laboratory of Photoelectronic Functional Crystals, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin, China
2
Department of Physics, Tianjin Chengjian University, Tianjin, China
a
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Received:
4
January
2026
Accepted:
14
March
2026
Published online:
24
March
2026
Abstract
Photovoltaic manipulation of the dielectric liquid was achieved by constructing a sandwich structure of LN-Glass. Compared with a single LN structure, the construction of the LN-Glass sandwich structure significantly reduces the frictional resistance faced by the dielectric liquid moving along the LN surface, allowing for flexible and efficient manipulation at relatively low laser illumination power. Finite element simulation was conducted to analyze the surface electric field of both single LN and LN-Glass sandwich structures. The results indicated that the sandwich configuration significantly increased the local electric field strength at the surface of the LN, enhancing the driving force for liquid motion. By employing the continuous laser illumination/uniform laser prescanning mode, directional trapping/transport of discrete dielectric phases (microdroplets) was successfully realized. Additionally, small microdroplets in LN-Glass sandwich structure are dominated by surface tension and cannot undergo pronounced deformation.
Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1140/epjs/s11734-026-02275-1.
Copyright comment Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
Cheng Wang and Xiaohu Liu are co-first authors.
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to EDP Sciences, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2026
modified publication 2026
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
