{"id":8190,"date":"2025-09-18T11:01:38","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T15:01:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/?p=8190"},"modified":"2026-10-16T14:38:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T18:38:08","slug":"frumkin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/2025\/09\/18\/frumkin\/","title":{"rendered":"Thermocapillary Manipulation of Liquid Optical Waveguides"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Mentors<\/h3>\n\n\t<ul class=\"profile-listing profile-format-advanced\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n<li class=\"profile-item profile-item-advanced has-title post-8192 profile type-profile status-publish hentry departments-me affiliation-faculty program-year-yr-2024 program-year-186 profile-field-reu\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/profile\/valeri-frumkin\/\" class=\"profile-link profile-link-advanced\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"profile-photo profile-photo-advanced\"><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"\/photonics-programs\/files\/2025\/09\/val_frumkin-copy-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\t\t\t\t<h6 class=\"profile-name profile-name-advanced\">Valeri Frumkin<\/h6>\n\t\t<p class=\"profile-title profile-title-advanced\">Assistant Professor (ME)<\/p>\t<\/a>\n\n\t\n<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n<li class=\"profile-item profile-item-advanced post-8194 profile type-profile status-publish hentry affiliation-graduate-student program-year-186 profile-field-mentor\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/profile\/ryan-engle\/\" class=\"profile-link profile-link-advanced\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"profile-photo profile-photo-advanced\"><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"\/photonics-programs\/files\/2025\/09\/Ryan-300x300-1-300x300.png\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\t\t\t\t<h6 class=\"profile-name profile-name-advanced\">Ryan Engle<\/h6>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\n<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n<li class=\"profile-item profile-item-advanced has-title post-8196 profile type-profile status-publish hentry departments-me affiliation-graduate-student program-year-186 profile-field-mentor\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/profile\/jacob-garrett\/\" class=\"profile-link profile-link-advanced\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"profile-photo profile-photo-advanced\"><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"\/photonics-programs\/files\/2025\/09\/Garrett_Jacob-300x300.jpeg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\t\t\t\t<h6 class=\"profile-name profile-name-advanced\">Jacob Garrett<\/h6>\n\t\t<p class=\"profile-title profile-title-advanced\">PhD Candidate<\/p>\t<\/a>\n\n\t\n<\/li>\n\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Project Description<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The overall goal of this project is to explore how light can be guided and manipulated inside a thin liquid film, turning it into an optical waveguide with real-time dynamic control over its functionality. If a liquid film is suspended within an immiscible liquid environment, it will maintain uniform and smooth surfaces, preventing branching of light that is typically observed in soap films. By prescribing a non-uniform temperature distribution on the surface of the suspended film, one can control its local thickness via the thermocapillary effect, which is the variation of a liquid\u2019s surface tension with temperature. This may allow the creation of liquid channels within the film, guiding the light in any desired path. By changing the prescribed temperature in real time, one can continuously bend and move the liquid channels, resulting in a programmable liquid film optical waveguide. In this project, the REU student will design, fabricate, and test such a proof-of-concept experiment that manipulates a single beam of light inside a liquid film.<\/p>\n<div class=\" bu-callout alignright\"><\/p>\n<h3>Research Participant<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"color: #808080;\"><em>Program: INM REU<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/photonics-programs\/files\/2025\/09\/20250725_FutchiYang-Labshoot-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"636\" height=\"424\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-5958 alignnone\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span data-sheets-root=\"1\"><b>Futchi Yang<\/b><\/span>, Research Experiences for Undergraduates.<br \/>\n<a href='https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/2025\/11\/20\/futchi-yang\/' class='button button'>Learn More<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"bu_collapsible_container \" aria-live=\"polite\" data-customize-animation=\"false\"><h3 class=\"bu_collapsible\" aria-expanded=\"false\"tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\">Research Goals<\/h3><div class=\"bu_collapsible_section\" style=\"display: none;\"><\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li><span>Design and model a 3D frame the will support a liquid film in an aqueous environment and couple it to an optical fiber<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span>Design a simple array of heating elements that will couple to the frame and generate a desired temperature profile in the liquid film<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span>Fabricate both designs using 3D printing and other fabrication resources<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span>Perform measurements of the deflection of a light beam inside the liquid film by the induced temperature field<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p><div class=\"bu_collapsible_container \" aria-live=\"polite\" data-customize-animation=\"false\"><h3 class=\"bu_collapsible\" aria-expanded=\"false\"tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\">Learning Goals<\/h3><div class=\"bu_collapsible_section\" style=\"display: none;\"><\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>Learning about surface tension, wetting, thermocapillarity, and light propagation through different mediums<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span>3D design and\u00a0<\/span>modeling<\/li>\n<li><span>Fabrication by means of additive manufacturing, and other related techniques<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span>Learning to take optical measurements and analyze the acquired data <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Timeline<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><strong>Weeks 1:<\/strong><\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> Learning about the project and how to use the relevant equipment in the lab<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><strong>Weeks 2-3:<\/strong><\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> Design and fabrication of the first liquid film frame, followed by the deployment of film in an aqueous environment. Coupling the optical fiber to the frame<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><strong>Weeks 4-7:<\/strong><\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> Designing, constructing, and integrating the first thermal elements into the supporting frame, followed by a first proof of concept experiment<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><strong>Week 8-9:<\/strong><\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> Data acquisition and analysis for different optical, thermal and geometric parameters<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><strong>Weeks 10:<\/strong><\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> Preparing the final presentation<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mentors Project Description The overall goal of this project is to explore how light can be guided and manipulated inside a thin liquid film, turning it into an optical waveguide with real-time dynamic control over its functionality. If a liquid film is suspended within an immiscible liquid environment, it will maintain uniform and smooth surfaces, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19768,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[118],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8190"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19768"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8190"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8190\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11677,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8190\/revisions\/11677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}