Fluid-Mediated Force on a Particle Due to an Oscillating Plate and Its Effect on Deposition Measurements by a Quartz Crystal Microbalance.

Interaction of particles with boundaries is a fundamental problem in many fields of physics. In this Letter, we theoretically examine the fluid-mediated interaction between a horizontally oscillating plate and a spherical particle, revealing emergence of the novel nonlinear vertical force exerted on the particle. Although we demonstrate that the phenomenon only slightly alters deposition of colloidal (sub-)μm-sized particles measured by quartz crystal microbalance, it can result in levitation of larger particles above the plate, considerably hindering their deposition.