Size control of vapor bubbles on a silver film by a tuned CW laser

A vapor bubble is created by a weakly focused continuous-wave (CW) laser beam on the surface of a silver film. The temporal dynamics of the bubble is experimentally investigated with a tuned incident laser. The expansion and contraction rates of the vapor bubble are determined by the laser power. The diameter of the vapor bubble can be well controlled through tuning the laser power. A theory model is given to explain the underlying physics in the process. The method reported will have some interesting applications in micro-fluidics and bio-techniques.