Probing the rheology of viscous fluids using microcantilevers and the fluctuation-dissipation theorem

A microscopic understanding of the rheology of fluids at high frequencies remains an important and open challenge. Current microrheology approaches include the use of micron-scale beads held in optical traps as well as micron-scale cantilevers. Typically, these approaches have been limited in their range of accessible frequencies and dynamic viscosities. In this talk we are interested in the high-frequency regime for very viscous fluids where one must include inertial effects and the frequency dependence of the viscous damping. We present experimental results of the noise spectrum in displacement of the tip of a microcantilever for a variety of fluids that cover a range of viscosities. Using analytical predictions based upon the fluctuation-dissipation theorem, we present an approach to quantify the density and viscosity of the fluid from measurements of the noise spectrum. We are particularly interested in exploring fluids much more viscous than water. We use insights from this study to explore the dynamics of an oscillating elastic object in a power-law fluid to probe the rheology of a non-Newtonian fluid at high frequency.