A droplet impinging on a sufficiently heated surface may be cushioned by its own vapor and never touch the surface. In previous work, the transition to this so-called Leidenfrost regime was only qualitatively described as an abrupt change between the "contact-boiling" regime, which is characterized by violent boiling behaviors, and the Leidenfrost state. We reveal that the wetted area can be used as a quantity that quantitatively characterizes this transition and it is a continuous function of surface temperature up to the Leidenfrost regime. The wetted area exhibits fingering patterns caused by vapor flow under the liquid. This underlines the crucial role of vapor transport in the Leidenfrost transition and unveils the physical mechanism of the transition to the Leidenfrost regime.

Abstract