Professor Jung Ho Je (MSE), Research Assistant Professor Byung Mook Weon (MSE), and Ji San Lee (MSE Ph.D candidate) discovered why water drops form air bubbles during drop.

The research team investigated how air evolves into a bubble during drop impact using ultrafast x-ray phase-contrast imaging that enables to track the detailed mor-phological changes of air with high temporal and spatial resolutions. It found that the evolution takes place through three complicated stages: inertial retraction of the air film, collapse of the top air surface into a bubble, and pinch-off of a daughter droplet in the bubble.
Prof. Je stated “this principle promotes process efficiency of semiconductor production, electronic printing, and so on because a few air bubbles impact the process.”
The paper was published in Physical Review Letters on Nov. 13.