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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2011

Sun Choi,
Albert P. Pisano and
Tarek I. Zohdi
Sun Choi
Affiliation:
sunchoi@eecs.berkeley.edusunchoi08@gmail.com, UC Berkeley, Berkeley Sensor and Actuator Centor (BSAC), Berkeley, California, United States
Albert P. Pisano
Affiliation:
appisano@me.berkeley.edu, UC Berkeley, Berkeley Sensor and Actuator Centor (BSAC), Berkeley, California, United States
Tarek I. Zohdi
Affiliation:
zohdi@me.berkeley.edu, UC Berkeley, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Berkeley, California, United States
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Abstract

We developed an ultrafast microfluidic approach to self-assemble microparticles in threedimensions by taking advantage of simple photolithography and capillary action of microparticle-dispersed suspensions. 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 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.

Keywords

crystal growthself-assemblysolution deposition

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