---
APC_amount: 5599.52 EUR
OA_place: publisher
OA_type: hybrid
_id: '20727'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: Acoustic levitation provides a unique method for manipulating small particles
    as it completely evades effects from gravity, container walls, or physical handling.
    These advantages make it a tantalizing platform for studying complex phenomena
    in many-particle systems. In most standing-wave traps, however, particles interact
    via acoustic scattering forces that cause them to merge into a single dense object.
    Here, we introduce a complementary approach that combines acoustic levitation
    with electrostatic charging to assemble, adapt, and activate complex, separated
    many-particle systems. The key idea is to superimpose electrostatic repulsion
    on the intrinsic acoustic attraction, rendering a so-called “mermaid” potential
    where interactions are attractive at short range and repulsive at long range.
    By controlling the attraction–repulsion balance, we can levitate expanded structures
    where all particles are separated, collapsed structures where they are in contact,
    and hybrid ones consisting of both expanded and collapsed components. We find
    that collapsed and expanded structures are inherently stable, whereas hybrid ones
    exhibit transient stability governed by acoustically unstable dimers. Furthermore,
    we show how electrostatics allow us to adapt between configurations on the fly,
    either by quasistatic discharge or discrete up/down charge steps. Finally, we
    demonstrate how large structures experience selective energy pumping from the
    acoustic field—thrusting some particles into motion while others remain stationary—leading
    to complex dynamics including coupled rotations and oscillations. Our approach
    establishes a design space beyond acoustic collapse, offering possibilities to
    study many-particle systems with complex interactions, while suggesting pathways
    toward scalable integration into materials processing and other applications.
acknowledged_ssus:
- _id: M-Shop
acknowledgement: We thank Dustin Kleckner, Jack-William Barotta, and Daniel M. Harris
  for insightful discussions. We acknowledge the Miba machine shop at the Institute
  of Science and Technology Austria for instrumentation support. M.C.H. and C.P.G.
  acknowledge funding by the Gesellschaft für Forschungsförderung Niederösterreich
  under project FTI23-G-011.
article_processing_charge: Yes (in subscription journal)
article_type: original
arxiv: 1
author:
- first_name: Sue
  full_name: Shi, Sue
  id: 5c5b9247-15b2-11ec-abd3-fd958715639c
  last_name: Shi
- first_name: Maximilian
  full_name: Hübl, Maximilian
  id: 5eb8629e-15b2-11ec-abd3-e6f3e5e01f32
  last_name: Hübl
- first_name: Galien M
  full_name: Grosjean, Galien M
  id: 0C5FDA4A-9CF6-11E9-8939-FF05E6697425
  last_name: Grosjean
  orcid: 0000-0001-5154-417X
- first_name: Carl Peter
  full_name: Goodrich, Carl Peter
  id: EB352CD2-F68A-11E9-89C5-A432E6697425
  last_name: Goodrich
  orcid: 0000-0002-1307-5074
- first_name: Scott R
  full_name: Waitukaitis, Scott R
  id: 3A1FFC16-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Waitukaitis
  orcid: 0000-0002-2299-3176
citation:
  ama: Shi S, Hübl M, Grosjean GM, Goodrich CP, Waitukaitis SR. Electrostatics overcome
    acoustic collapse to assemble, adapt, and activate levitated matter. <i>Proceedings
    of the National Academy of Sciences</i>. 2025;122(50):e2516865122. doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2516865122">10.1073/pnas.2516865122</a>
  apa: Shi, S., Hübl, M., Grosjean, G. M., Goodrich, C. P., &#38; Waitukaitis, S.
    R. (2025). Electrostatics overcome acoustic collapse to assemble, adapt, and activate
    levitated matter. <i>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</i>. National
    Academy of Sciences. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2516865122">https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2516865122</a>
  chicago: Shi, Sue, Maximilian Hübl, Galien M Grosjean, Carl Peter Goodrich, and
    Scott R Waitukaitis. “Electrostatics Overcome Acoustic Collapse to Assemble, Adapt,
    and Activate Levitated Matter.” <i>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</i>.
    National Academy of Sciences, 2025. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2516865122">https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2516865122</a>.
  ieee: S. Shi, M. Hübl, G. M. Grosjean, C. P. Goodrich, and S. R. Waitukaitis, “Electrostatics
    overcome acoustic collapse to assemble, adapt, and activate levitated matter,”
    <i>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</i>, vol. 122, no. 50. National
    Academy of Sciences, p. e2516865122, 2025.
  ista: Shi S, Hübl M, Grosjean GM, Goodrich CP, Waitukaitis SR. 2025. Electrostatics
    overcome acoustic collapse to assemble, adapt, and activate levitated matter.
    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 122(50), e2516865122.
  mla: Shi, Sue, et al. “Electrostatics Overcome Acoustic Collapse to Assemble, Adapt,
    and Activate Levitated Matter.” <i>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</i>,
    vol. 122, no. 50, National Academy of Sciences, 2025, p. e2516865122, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2516865122">10.1073/pnas.2516865122</a>.
  short: S. Shi, M. Hübl, G.M. Grosjean, C.P. Goodrich, S.R. Waitukaitis, Proceedings
    of the National Academy of Sciences 122 (2025) e2516865122.
corr_author: '1'
date_created: 2025-12-07T23:02:00Z
date_published: 2025-12-16T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2026-05-20T08:41:15Z
day: '16'
ddc:
- '530'
department:
- _id: ScWa
- _id: CaGo
doi: 10.1073/pnas.2516865122
external_id:
  arxiv:
  - '2507.01739'
file:
- access_level: open_access
  checksum: c40dc4c909724b9d1146636612e8821a
  content_type: application/pdf
  creator: dernst
  date_created: 2025-12-09T12:45:53Z
  date_updated: 2025-12-09T12:45:53Z
  file_id: '20744'
  file_name: 2025_PNAS_Shi.pdf
  file_size: 10621381
  relation: main_file
  success: 1
file_date_updated: 2025-12-09T12:45:53Z
has_accepted_license: '1'
intvolume: '       122'
issue: '50'
language:
- iso: eng
month: '12'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
page: e2516865122
project:
- _id: 8dd93da8-16d5-11f0-9cad-d2c70200d9a5
  grant_number: FTI23-G-011
  name: Dynamically reconfigurable self-assembly with triangular DNA-origami bricks
publication: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
publication_identifier:
  eissn:
  - 1091-6490
publication_status: published
publisher: National Academy of Sciences
quality_controlled: '1'
related_material:
  link:
  - description: News on ISTA website
    relation: press_release
    url: https://ista.ac.at/en/news/science-is-like-magic-just-real/
  record:
  - id: '20749'
    relation: research_data
    status: public
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: Electrostatics overcome acoustic collapse to assemble, adapt, and activate
  levitated matter
tmp:
  image: /images/cc_by_nc_nd.png
  legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode
  name: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
    (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
  short: CC BY-NC-ND (4.0)
type: journal_article
user_id: 2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
volume: 122
year: '2025'
...
---
OA_place: repository
OA_type: green
_id: '20749'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: Datasets and code for publication "Electrostatics overcome acoustic collapse
    to assemble, adapt, and activate levitated matter"
article_processing_charge: No
author:
- first_name: Sue
  full_name: Shi, Sue
  id: 5c5b9247-15b2-11ec-abd3-fd958715639c
  last_name: Shi
citation:
  ama: Shi S. Datasets and code for manuscript “Electrostatics overcome acoustic collapse
    to assemble, adapt, and activate levitated matter.” 2025. doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.15752991">10.5281/ZENODO.15752991</a>
  apa: Shi, S. (2025). Datasets and code for manuscript “Electrostatics overcome acoustic
    collapse to assemble, adapt, and activate levitated matter.” Zenodo. <a href="https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.15752991">https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.15752991</a>
  chicago: Shi, Sue. “Datasets and Code for Manuscript ‘Electrostatics Overcome Acoustic
    Collapse to Assemble, Adapt, and Activate Levitated Matter.’” Zenodo, 2025. <a
    href="https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.15752991">https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.15752991</a>.
  ieee: S. Shi, “Datasets and code for manuscript ‘Electrostatics overcome acoustic
    collapse to assemble, adapt, and activate levitated matter.’” Zenodo, 2025.
  ista: Shi S. 2025. Datasets and code for manuscript ‘Electrostatics overcome acoustic
    collapse to assemble, adapt, and activate levitated matter’, Zenodo, <a href="https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.15752991">10.5281/ZENODO.15752991</a>.
  mla: Shi, Sue. <i>Datasets and Code for Manuscript “Electrostatics Overcome Acoustic
    Collapse to Assemble, Adapt, and Activate Levitated Matter.”</i> Zenodo, 2025,
    doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.15752991">10.5281/ZENODO.15752991</a>.
  short: S. Shi, (2025).
contributor:
- first_name: Maximilian
  id: 5eb8629e-15b2-11ec-abd3-e6f3e5e01f32
  last_name: Hübl
- first_name: Galien M
  id: 0C5FDA4A-9CF6-11E9-8939-FF05E6697425
  last_name: Grosjean
  orcid: 0000-0001-5154-417X
corr_author: '1'
date_created: 2025-12-09T13:36:16Z
date_published: 2025-11-10T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2026-05-20T08:41:14Z
day: '10'
ddc:
- '530'
department:
- _id: ScWa
- _id: CaGo
doi: 10.5281/ZENODO.15752991
has_accepted_license: '1'
main_file_link:
- open_access: '1'
  url: https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.15752991
month: '11'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
publisher: Zenodo
related_material:
  record:
  - id: '20727'
    relation: used_in_publication
    status: public
status: public
title: Datasets and code for manuscript "Electrostatics overcome acoustic collapse
  to assemble, adapt, and activate levitated matter"
tmp:
  image: /images/cc_by.png
  legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
  name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)
  short: CC BY (4.0)
type: research_data_reference
user_id: 2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
year: '2025'
...