Creation and perturbation of planar networks of chemical oscillators.

Methods for creating custom planar networks of diffusively coupled chemical oscillators and perturbing individual oscillators within the network are presented. The oscillators consist of the Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction contained in an emulsion. Networks of drops of the BZ reaction are created with either Dirichlet (constant-concentration) or Neumann (no-flux) boundary conditions in a custom planar configuration using programmable illumination for the perturbations. The differences between the observed network dynamics for each boundary condition are described. Using light, we demonstrate the ability to control the initial conditions of the network and to cause individual oscillators within the network to undergo sustained period elongation or a one-time phase delay.