Magneto-Acoustic Field-Induced Unstable Interface of Magnetic Microswarm.

Research on the interfacial instability of two-phase systems can help in gaining a better understanding of various hydrodynamic instabilities in nature. However, owing to the nonlinear and complex spatiotemporal dynamics of the unstable interface, the instability is challenging to control and suppress. This paper presents a novel interfacial instability of the magnetic microswarm induced by the competition between the destabilizing effect of magnetic field and the stabilizing effect of acoustic field. The physics underlying this novel phenomenon is discussed by analyzing the contributions of the external fields. Unlike previous studies, this study demonstrates that the instability is independent of the interfacial force or diffusion effect and can persist without dissipation over time. The manipulation of the unstable interface is further achieved by adjusting the configuration of the magneto-acoustic system. This approach can be used in thermal encoding metamaterials and has great potential applications in systems where the instability is detrimental.