High Frequency Acoustic On-Chip Integration for Particle Characterization and Manipulation in Microfluidics

Sizhe Li (1, 2, 3) , Julien Carlier (2, 3) , Malika Toubal (2) , Huiqin Liu (1) , Pierre Campistron (2, 3) , Dorothee Callens (2, 3) , Georges Nassar (2, 3) , Bertrand Nongaillard (2, 3) , Shishang Guo (1)

1 Wuhan University [China]
2 IEMN-DOAE - Institut d’Électronique, de Microélectronique et de Nanotechnologie - Département Opto-Acousto-Électronique - UMR 8520
3 MAMINA - IEMN - Matériaux et Acoustiques pour MIcro et NAno systèmes intégrés - IEMN

This letter presents a microfluidic device that integrates high frequency (650 MHz) bulk acoustic waves for the realization of particle handling on-chip. The core structure of the microfluidic chip is made up of a confocal lens, a vertical reflection wall, and a ZnO film transducer coupled with a silicon substrate for exciting acoustic beams. The excited acoustic waves propagate in bulk silicon and are then guided by a 45° silicon mirror into the suspensions in the microchannel; afterwards, the acoustic energy is focused on particles by the confocal lens and reflected by a reflection wall. Parts of the reflected acoustic energy backtrack into the transducer, and acoustic attenuation measurements are characterized for particle detection. Meanwhile, a strong acoustic streaming phenomenon can be seen around the reflection wall, which is used to implement particle manipulation. This platform opens a frontier for on-chip integration of high sensitivity acoustic characterization and localized acoustic manipulation in microfluidics.

Domaines: Micro et nanotechnologies/Microélectronique; Acoustique [physics.class-ph]

Sizhe Li, Julien Carlier, Malika Toubal, Huiqin Liu, Pierre Campistron, et al.. High Frequency Acoustic On-Chip Integration for Particle Characterization and Manipulation in Microfluidics. Applied Physics Letters, 2017, 111 (16), pp.163503. ⟨10.1063/1.5003414⟩. ⟨hal-03258701⟩