Laser-driven accelerated growth of dendritic patterns

We report a scheme for very significantly accelerating growth of dendritic patterns in diverse liquids, making use of only a few hundred microwatts of laser power in the presence of an efficient absorber like carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The CNTs act as a heat source that drives dendritic growth; their anisotropy ensures a rich diversity of branched patterns. We rationalize the unprecedented speed of dendritic growth using a diffusion equation for the temperature field with an additional source term. Close to the heat source, the well-established microscopic solvability theory is seen to break down. Our method opens new vistas for experimental and theoretical studies of pattern formation in liquids.