CASE STUDY
Stabilizing Electrodynamic Shaker Resonances OAV Air Bearings for Quantum Droplet Research
Swinburne University of Technology used OAV Air Bearings to stabilize an electrodynamic shaker system, providing high precision in quantum experimentation.
CUSTOMER
Swinburne
University
INDUSTRY
Research & Academics
APPLICATION
Quantum Experiment
PRODUCT USED
OAVBX5050
BENEFIT
Stable Resonances
THE CHALLENGE
The Optical Sciences Centre at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia studied the behavior of liquid droplets bouncing on a fluid bath through a quantum physics lens. When the droplets are driven at a controlled frequency, they can begin to “walk” across the surface of the fluid. Each impact creates a small wave that influences the droplet’s next movement, producing unusual and highly repeatable behavior. The researchers characterized these systems as “droplet time crystals” (DTCs), in which the droplets repeat their motion at regular intervals related to the driving frequency.
The team needed to isolate the system from external vibrations and maintain ultra-stable and precise resonances in an electrodynamic shaker. Conventional bearings introduced friction and noise, compromising the precision of measurements at the microjoule level.
The fluid bath had a 100 mm diameter and a total mass of approximately 570 g. It was mounted on a linear stage supported by air bearings and precisely leveled by adjusting the optical table with a two-axis digital level. Two single-axis piezoelectric accelerometers monitored vibrations in the bath.
Droplets were introduced using a computer-controlled droplet printer consisting of a two-axis linear translation stage and a piezoelectric droplet generator. The fluid level was precisely adjusted using a micrometer translation stage, while top- and side-view cameras tracked the resulting droplet motion.
THE SOLUTION
To address these challenges, the team incorporated the OAVBX5050 Box Series Linear Air Bearing Guide into the experimental platform.. The air bearing was mounted on an aluminum plate on top of the optical table and supplied with clean, compressed air through a drive rod. This removed friction and allowed for smooth and repeatable motion with no noise.
The OAVBX5050 was used to reduce the transverse vibrations through stabilization of the entire system due its smooth and ultra-precise frictionless motion. Frictionless motion in the axial direction prevented adverse motion in the transverse plane. The team chose an air bearing with a large enough surface area to maintain the total payload to a minimum, reducing the shaker resonances.
When the fluid bath was driven above the Faraday threshold, waves formed across the fluid surface in distinct square and triangular patterns. The researchers then introduced droplets onto the bath and observed stable bouncing behavior, including a (2,1) mode in which the droplets oscillated vertically at half the driving frequency of the bath. By holding the driving frequency and amplitude constant while varying droplet size, the team was able to study how these changes affected the droplets' bouncing dynamics and internal vibrational modes.
Figure 1. Schematic illustration of the main components of the experiment
THE RESULTS
By integrating OAV Air Bearings into the system, the team:
Stabilized the shaker and reduced transverse vibrations
Maintained the total payload with a large bearing surface area
Enabled accurate measurement of droplet dynamics and Faraday wave patterns
Delivered highly precise and repeatable results with no noise
The research team was able to observe and analyze complex droplet behaviors with a level of precicsion that was not before possible. OAV continues to support cutting-edge research where precision motion and vibration control are critical.
REFERENCES
1. Simula, T. (2023). Droplet time crystals. Physica Scripta, 98, 035004. https://doi.org/10.1088/1402-4896/acb621