Automated electric charge measurements of fluid microdrops using the Millikan method

Automated measurements of the electric charge of fluid microdrops precise to up to 0.016 of an electron charge have been made using machine-vision systems to observe the motion of fluid microdrops in air under the influence of an oscillating electric field. The fluid drop diameters have ranged from 7 mum to 25 mum with smaller diameter drops being measured to higher precision. The experimental runs performed for the purpose of attempting to find isolated fractionally electrically charged particles have measured the charges of tens of millions of fluid microdrops using piezoelectrically driven drop-on-demand inkjet-like droplet ejectors as fluid drop sources.