Ultrafast Self-Assembly of Microscale Particles by Open-Channel Flow

Sun Choi*†‡§, Inkyu Park, Zhao Hao§, Hoi-ying N. Holman§, Albert P. Pisano†‡ and Tarek I. Zohdi‡
† Berkeley Sensor and Actuator Center (BSAC)
‡ Department of Mechanical Engineering
§ Ecology Department, Earth Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), 335 Gwahangno, Yuseong-gu, Daejon 305-701, South Korea
Langmuir, Article ASAP
DOI: 10.1021/la903492w
Publication Date (Web): November 18, 2009
Copyright © 2010 American Chemical Society
*To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: sunchoi@eecs.berkeley.edu.

Abstract

Abstract Image

We developed an ultrafast microfluidic approach to self-assemble microparticles in three dimensions by taking advantage of simple photolithography and capillary action of microparticle-dispersed suspensions. The theoretical principles of high-speed assembly have been explained, and the experimental verifications of the assembly of various sizes of silica microspheres and silica gel microspheres within thin and long open microchannels by using this approach have been demonstrated. We anticipate that the presented technique will be widely used in the semiconductor and Bio-MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) fields because it offers a fast way to control 3D microscale particle assemblies and also has superb compatibility with photolithography, which can lead to an easy integration of particle assembly with existing CMOS (complementary metal oxide−semiconductor) and MEMS fabrication processes.

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History

  • Received: September 15, 2009
    Revised: October 29, 2009

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