We demonstrate the successful photovoltaic splitting of water microdroplets on a $y$y-cut ${{\rm LiNbO}_3}:{\rm Fe}$LiNbO3:Fe substrate coated with an oil-infused hydrophobic layer. The temporal evolution of the microdroplet contact angle upon a central illumination and the distinct behaviors of two sub-droplets during a following boundary illumination reveal that both electrowetting and electroosmotic effects induced by the dipolar photovoltaic potential on the substrate contribute to the water microdroplet splitting. The reciprocal relationship between the splitting time and the illumination intensity verifies the inherent photovoltaic nature of the water microdroplet splitting. The splitting time is found to be linearly dependent on the initial microdroplet size. These points are quite important to the practicalization of lithium niobate (LN)-based microfluidic chips in the biological field.

中文翻译：

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y形切割的LiNbO3：Fe晶体上的水微滴的光伏分裂，该晶体涂有注油的疏水绝缘层。

我们证明了在涂有注油疏水层的$ y $ y切面$ {{\ rm LiNbO} _3}：{\ rm Fe} $ LiNbO3：Fe基板上成功实现了光伏微滴的光伏分裂。在中心照明下微滴接触角的时间演变以及在随后的边界照明期间两个子滴的不同行为揭示了由偶极光伏电势在基底上引起的电润湿和电渗效应均有助于水微滴的分裂。分裂时间与照明强度之间的相互关系验证了水微液滴分裂的固有光伏性质。发现分裂时间与初始微滴大小线性相关。