Sticking of droplets on slippery superhydrophobic surfaces by laser induced forward transfer

Liquid jets created by the Laser Induced Forward Transfer (LIFT) technique can reach extremely high speeds exceeding 270 m/s. The impact of such a jet on a solid surface can create a dynamic pressure of 35 MPa, enabling the LIFT process to stick liquid droplets on highly slippery superhydrophobic surfaces. In this letter, we demonstrate how LIFT printing can be utilized in order to achieve selective sticky behavior on slippery surfaces, valuable for many biosensor applications, and we suggest it as a tool of evaluating the thermodynamic robustness of the so called Fakir states on various rough hydrophobic surfaces. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.