A study for the realization of mobile micro-TAS equipped with a meta-material millimeter-wave antenna

超材料指的是一种材料，其中不同的电或机械性能分布在块体中，从而可以在不依赖于组装过程的情况下表达各种特性。本项目对流动微全分析系统(μ-TAS)在现场化学或生化分析中的应用进行了基础性研究。我们的重点是1)基于相同的材料和原理开发μ-TAS所需的组件，如泵、过滤器、反应堆、分离器、传感器；2)利用60 GHz频段的毫米波进行电源和通信的技术。在后者中，基于类似于光子带隙器件的原理，利用分布式纳米级介质材料来实现全向毫米波天线。此外，作为微通道内的一种液体处理技术，我们开发了一种利用嵌入电极阵列产生的表面场效应在微通道内驱动液滴的操作方法。利用表面修饰的平行条状电极系统，我们发现液滴可以以自推进的方式被驱动，并将其机理确定为湿层的作用，它屏蔽了液滴一侧的静电场。作为该项目的成果，我们为实现便携式μ-TAS奠定了基础。

Metamaterial refers to a material in which different electrical or mechanical properties are distributed within the bulk so that various characteristics can be expressed without relying on assembling processes. In this project, basic studies are carried out towards the utilization of the metamaterial for mobile micro Total Analysis System (μ-TAS) which is to be used for in situ chemical or biochemical assays. We have focused on the development of 1)the components necessary for μ-TAS, such as pumps, filters, reactors, separators, sensors, based on the same material and principle, 2)the technology to utilize 60GHz-band millimeter waves for the power supply and communication. In the latter, distributed nanometer-scale dielectric materials are utilized, based on the principle similar to the photonic band-gap devices, to enable omnidirectional millimeter-wave antenna. In addition, as a liquid handling technique within the micro-channels, we have developed a liquid droplet manipulation methods which is actuated within the microchannel using surface-field effects created by an embedded electrode array. By using surface-modified parallel strip electrode system, we have discovered that a liquid droplet can be actuated in a self-propelling manner, and identified its mechanism as the effect of moisture layer which shields the electrostatic field on one side of the droplet. As a result of this project, we have established basic technologies for the realization of portable μ-TAS.