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

超材料是指一种材料，其中不同的电气或机械性能分布在块内，使得可以在不依赖于组装过程的情况下表达各种特性。本计画主要针对超材料于移动的微型全分析系统（μ-TAS）的应用进行基础研究，此系统可用于化学或生化的现场分析。我们的重点是1）基于相同材料和原理的μ-TAS所需的组件，如泵，过滤器，反应器，分离器，传感器，2）将60 GHz波段毫米波用于电源和通信的技术。在后者中，基于类似于光子带隙器件的原理，利用分布式纳米尺度介质材料，实现全向毫米波天线。此外，作为微通道内的液体处理技术，我们已经开发了一种液滴操纵方法，该方法使用由嵌入式电极阵列产生的表面场效应在微通道内致动。利用表面修饰的平行条形电极系统，我们发现液滴可以以自推进的方式被驱动，并确定其机理是湿层屏蔽液滴一侧的静电场的作用。作为本项目的成果，我们已经建立了实现便携式μ-TAS的基础技术。

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.