Context
I've had the thought of a printing device that uses a thin grid that has holes small enough to allow suspension of a water based ink above a sheet of paper using surface tension. I've concepted how such a device would be used to form an image, but not sure on the basic concept of use of a laser to apply a force.
Attempts at answering this myself
My initial research has revealed the following:
- Lasers can be used to apply a significant force on a micro scale and below
- Water can be suspended using its own surface tension
The missing information
I have no idea as to what calculations I would need to run. Using the some of the basic formulas I've seen applied in other similar applications are wildly varying and I could never join them together to make any sense. I also I am missing something not from a scientific perspective, but a engineering perspective.
The question
Is it feasible to use a low powered laser to "push" the ink though the gaps?
I am assuming the target area is approx 1000 square microns. However this fact is adjustable as I am not targeting any specific quality of print.
