#7 Microfluidic Systems: Sheng-Shian Li
#7 Microfluidic Systems: Sheng-Shian Li
#7 Microfluidic Systems: Sheng-Shian Li
Sheng-Shian Li ()
Professor
Institute of NanoEngineering and MicroSystems
National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
INEMS at NTHU, Taiwan Copyright: NTHU INEMS, proprietary Information, do not distribute or copy 1
Example Application
Traditional Chemical Analysis (DNA Assay)
INEMS at NTHU, Taiwan Copyright: NTHU INEMS, proprietary Information, do not distribute or copy Source: Michigan 2
The Need for Integration
Sample-to-sequence device is highly desirable (eliminates all manual
transfers and interactions)
INEMS at NTHU, Taiwan Copyright: NTHU INEMS, proprietary Information, do not distribute or copy Source: Michigan 3
INEMS at NTHU, Taiwan Copyright: NTHU INEMS, proprietary Information, do not distribute or copy Source: Michigan 4
Microfluidic Transducers
A fluid is a material (gas or liquid) that deforms continually under shear
stress, i.e., the material can flow and has no rigid three-dimensional
structure.
Micromachining applications in fluidics have become more important
as people strive to create complete fluidic systems in miniaturized
formats. Many of the key building blocks (flow channels, flow
restrictors, mixers, pumps, valves, sensors, etc.) are either fairly
mature or are already under development. A broad variety of materials
are available for fabricating the systems or their components, including
glass, plastics/polymers, metals, ceramics, and semiconductors.
Applications of micromachined fluidic systems include chemical
analysis, biological and chemical sensing, drug delivery, molecular
separation, amplification, sequencing or synthesis of nucleic acids,
environmental monitoring; and many others.
INEMS at NTHU, Taiwan Copyright: NTHU INEMS, proprietary Information, do not distribute or copy Source: Michigan 5
INEMS at NTHU, Taiwan Copyright: NTHU INEMS, proprietary Information, do not distribute or copy Source: Michigan 7
INEMS at NTHU, Taiwan Copyright: NTHU INEMS, proprietary Information, do not distribute or copy Source: Michigan 8
Flow Channels
Flow channels for fluids and gases are fundamental building blocks of microfluidic
systems, analogous to wire or thin-film electrical interconnects in conventional ICs.
It is readily possible to fabricate flow channels in silicon using various etching
techniques. Similarly, flow channels can be fabricated in glass and other materials,
but generally, only isotropic etches are readily available.
A wide variety of fluidic channels have been fabricated using micromachining
approaches from one of three categories: bulk micromachined, surface
micromachined (additive), and others (such as molding, etch pit replication, etc.).
The most important factors for selecting suitable fabrication technologies are
generally:
1) available channel cross-sectional areas and other geometric constraints (note
that most surface micromachined fluidic channels have significant channel height
constraints, leading to surface areas that scale directly with the channel cross
section).
2) channel interior surface materials (key issues are typically whether or not all
surfaces are of one material type, and the compatibility of the material(s) with any
biological or chemical fluids they may encounter).
3) complexity of fabrication (hence yield and cost).
Other factors to be considered are mostly application-specific and include whether
or not the channels are optically accessible, interior wall roughness, hermeticity,
burst pressure, etc.
INEMS at NTHU, Taiwan Copyright: NTHU INEMS, proprietary Information, do not distribute or copy Source: Michigan 9
INEMS at NTHU, Taiwan Copyright: NTHU INEMS, proprietary Information, do not distribute or copy Source: Michigan 10
Flow Channels in Silicon
INEMS at NTHU, Taiwan Copyright: NTHU INEMS, proprietary Information, do not distribute or copy Source: Michigan 11
INEMS at NTHU, Taiwan Copyright: NTHU INEMS, proprietary Information, do not distribute or copy Source: Michigan 12
Bulk Micromachined Channels (Cont.)
Fig. 3(a) shows the cross section of a
flow channel formed after
undercutting the highly-boron doped
rib array using EDP etch, while Fig.
3(b) shows the channel structure
after sealing the ceiling with thermal
oxide and LPCVD dielectrics. This
approach results in a planar upper
surface on which to accommodate
the heaters and interconnect leads.
Multichannel arrays with channel-to-
channel separations as small as 4m
can be achieved because of the high
lateral dimensional control achieved
by the anisotropic etch. Where
convex corners are used in routing
the microchannels, no corner
compensation was used.
INEMS at NTHU, Taiwan Copyright: NTHU INEMS, proprietary Information, do not distribute or copy Source: Michigan 13
INEMS at NTHU, Taiwan Copyright: NTHU INEMS, proprietary Information, do not distribute or copy Source: Michigan 15
INEMS at NTHU, Taiwan Copyright: NTHU INEMS, proprietary Information, do not distribute or copy Source: Michigan 16
Surface Micromachined Channels (Cont.)
INEMS at NTHU, Taiwan Copyright: NTHU INEMS, proprietary Information, do not distribute or copy Source: Michigan 17
Micropumps
INEMS at NTHU, Taiwan Copyright: NTHU INEMS, proprietary Information, do not distribute or copy Source: Michigan 25
Valves
Ideal valve characteristics:
zero leakage
zero power consumption
zero dead volume
infinite differential pressure capability
insensitivity to particulate contamination
zero response time (infinitely fast state change)
potential for linear operation
ability to operate with liquids and gases of any
density/viscosity/chemistry
others?
In practice, one is faced with a trade-off.
Valves are categorized as passive , active depending upon
whether or not they use external power to actuate and
hydrogel valves.
INEMS at NTHU, Taiwan Copyright: NTHU INEMS, proprietary Information, do not distribute or copy Source: Michigan 26
Passive Valves
Passive valves are usually used as check valves. These are flow
control components that allow flow only in one direction. This way they
can rectify the bidirectional flow generated by micropumps. In that
respect it is analogous to a diode in electrical circuits.
Two-wafer stack design for passive valve (after Tiren, et al., (1989)).
INEMS at NTHU, Taiwan Copyright: NTHU INEMS, proprietary Information, do not distribute or copy Source: Michigan 27
Passive Valves
INEMS at NTHU, Taiwan Copyright: NTHU INEMS, proprietary Information, do not distribute or copy Source: Michigan 28
Active Valves
Many valves actuate diaphragms based on piezoelectric, shape
memory alloy, thermo-pneumatic and electrostatic principle. For good
sealing, it needs two capillary level construction. This complicates
fabrication process (unfavorable for large-scale integration).
INEMS at NTHU, Taiwan Copyright: NTHU INEMS, proprietary Information, do not distribute or copy Source: Michigan 29
Active Valves
INEMS at NTHU, Taiwan Copyright: NTHU INEMS, proprietary Information, do not distribute or copy Source: Michigan 30
Piezoelectric Valve With Organic Membrane
(Shoji, et al. (1991))
Thermally-Driven Valves
Normally closed gas valve of Jerman (1991), showing two-wafer construction and
thermal bimorph actuation scheme (note that the valve is shown partly open).
On/off flow ratios (defining leakage) of 5000:1 were achieved, with gas flows of 0 - 150
cc/min possible at inlet pressures of 1 - 50 PSIG, with an input power of 150 mW
required for any appreciable flow and more power required for higher flow rates (on
the order of 500 mW for full flow).
INEMS at NTHU, Taiwan Copyright: NTHU INEMS, proprietary Information, do not distribute or copy Source: Michigan 32
Bimorph Actuated Valve
Thermopneumatic Valves
Liquid trapped in a sealed cavity is pressurized (and/or partly vaporized) by
dissipation of power by a thin-film heater. The expanding working fluid in the
chamber forces a thin membrane against a valve seal. Fabricated by bonding
wafers together, filled cavities with a fluid (pentane in this case with a micro
syringe) and sealed afterwards with epoxy.
INEMS at NTHU, Taiwan Copyright: NTHU INEMS, proprietary Information, do not distribute or copy Source: Michigan 34