Microactuation by Electrical Control of Surface Tension

UCLA ENG-9980874电控表面张力微驱动这个工程微系统：“XYZ”on a Chip项目的目标是建立表面张力作为微器件中移动液体介质的主要力源。当物体缩小到微米级时，表面张力主导着大多数常规力。近年来，液体微马达在低驱动电压和低能耗方面表现出了前所未有的效率，在这种成功的鼓舞下，电润湿(EW)被认为是一种更普遍和更直接的机制，可以基于表面张力微驱动来实现微器件液体的运动。本课题的主要目标是为电子战微致动器的研制奠定科学基础和制造技术基础。描述了研究、开发和表征这种新型微驱动机构的计划。目标结果是一种高能效但简单实用的微尺度流体装置的液体驱动方法。因为这项技术将在化学和生物医学微型设备中找到许多应用。将开发一个由电子战机构驱动的DNA打印头原型，以演示该技术，并说明本研究中提出的基本微驱动技术将实现的一些潜在影响。

Chang-Jin "CJ" Kim, UCLA ENG-9980874Microactuation by Electrical Control of Surface TensionThe goal of this Engineering Microsystems: "XYZ" on a Chip project is to establish surface tension as a main source of force for moving liquid media in microdevices. Surface tension dominates most conventional forces as things scale down to micrometers. Encouraged by the recent success of liquid micromotors, which have demonstrated unprecedented efficiency in terms of requiring both low driving voltage and low energy consumption, electrowetting (EW) is proposed as a more general and direct mechanism upon which to base surface-tension microactuation for microdevice liquid movement. The main goal of this project is to establish the foundation of science and fabrication technology for EW-based microactuation. A plan to study, develop, and characterize this new microactuation mechanism is described. The targeted result is a highly energy-efficient yet simple and practical liquid-driving method for microscale fluidic devices. for This technology will find numerous applications in chemical and biomedical microdevices. A prototype DNA printhead actuated by the EW mechanism will be developed to both demonstrate the technology and to illustrate some of the potential impact to be realized by the fundamental microactuation advances proposed in this study.