Anomalous dynamics in tracer-particle motions in an electrohydrodynamically driven oil-in-oil system.

Abstract

We characterize the superdiffusive dynamics of tracer particles in an electrohydrodynamically driven emulsion of oil droplets in an immiscible oil medium, where the amplitude and frequency of an external electric field are the control parameters. In the weakly driven electrohydrodynamic regime, the droplets are trapped dielectrophoretically on a patterned electrode, and the driving is therefore spatially varying. We find excellent agreement with a 〈x^{2}〉∼t^{1.5} power law and find that this superdiffusive dynamics arises from an underlying displacement distribution that is distinctly non-Gaussian and exponential for small displacements and short times. While these results are comparable with a random-velocity field model, the tracer particle speeds are in fact spatially varying in two dimensions, arising from a spatially varying electrohydrodynamic driving force. This suggests that the important ingredient for the superdiffusive t^{1.5} behavior observed is a velocity field that is isotropic in the plane and spatially correlated. Finally, we can extract, from the superdiffusive dynamics, a experimental length scale that corresponds to the lateral range of the hydrodynamic flows. This experimental length scale is non zero only above a threshold ion mobility length.