TWI760078B - Plate-acoustic-wave microfluidic structure - Google Patents

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a plate-acoustic-wave microfluidic structure, which includes a piezoelectric substrate, at least one first transducer set, at least one second transducer set, and a microfluidic channel. The at least one first transducer set is disposed on a first surface of the piezoelectric substrate. The at least one second transducer set is disposed on a second surface of the piezoelectric substrate. The microfluidic channel is disposed on the first surface of the piezoelectric substrate and for a microfluidic to be accommodated therein. The microfluidic includes at least one particle. At least one of the first transducer set and the second transducer set is driven to actuate the piezoelectric substrate in at least two plate-acoustic-wave modes. When the piezoelectric substrate is actuated in one of the plate-acoustic-wave modes, the particle swims in a first way. When the piezoelectric substrate is actuated in another of the plate-acoustic-wave modes, the particle swims in a second way. Through changing the plate-acoustic-wave mode, the application diversity of the plate-acoustic-wave microfluidic structure is increased.

Description

Flat Sonic Microfluidic Structures

The present invention relates to a microfluidic structure, and more particularly, to a flat-panel acoustic wave microfluidic structure using flat-panel acoustic waves.

The microfluidic structure places the fluid in a tiny channel, and generates sound pressure changes inside the microfluid through acoustic vibration, which can push some of the particles in the microfluid, so it is often used in the screening or arrangement of tiny particles, such as biomedicine. In the field of culturing cells or analyzing blood. Relevant manufacturers set electrodes on piezoelectric substrates to convert electrical energy into sound waves. However, piezoelectric substrates, electrodes and flow channels are all precise structures, which are not only difficult to manufacture, but also have to be configured according to the characteristics of particles in microfluidics. The fabrication is limited to a specific part of the microfluidics and it is difficult to make other effective applications.

In view of this, how to improve the acoustic wave microfluidic structure and enhance the application diversity of the acoustic wave microfluidic structure has become the goal of the relevant industry.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a flat-panel acoustic wave microfluidic structure is provided, which includes a piezoelectric substrate, at least one first electrode group, at least one The second electrode group and a microfluidic channel; the at least one first electrode group is disposed on a first surface of the piezoelectric substrate; the at least one second electrode group is disposed on a second surface of the piezoelectric substrate; the microfluidic flow The channel is arranged on the first surface of the piezoelectric substrate, and accommodates a microfluid; wherein, the microfluid contains at least one particle, and at least one of the at least one first electrode group and the at least one second electrode group is The piezoelectric substrate is driven to act in at least two flat-plate acoustic wave modes. When the piezoelectric substrate is actuated in a flat-plate acoustic wave mode, the at least one particle is acoustophores in a first manner. When the piezoelectric substrate is actuated in another flat-plate acoustic wave mode In the state, the at least one particle performs acoustophoresis in a second manner.

Thereby, by changing the mode of the plate acoustic wave, the application diversity of the plate acoustic wave microfluidic structure can be improved.

According to the aforementioned flat-plate acoustic wave microfluidic structure, the piezoelectric substrate vibrates under the action of a flat-plate acoustic wave.

According to the aforementioned flat-panel acoustic wave microfluidic structure, the positions of the at least one first electrode group correspond to the positions of the at least one second electrode group.

According to the aforementioned flat-panel acoustic wave microfluidic structure, the number of the at least one first electrode group can be four, the four first electrode groups are disposed on the first surface and surround the microfluidic channel, and the number of the at least one second electrode group It can be four, and each second electrode group corresponds to the position of each first electrode group.

According to the aforementioned flat-panel acoustic wave microfluidic structure, the microfluidic channel can include at least one outlet, and the at least one particle acoustophores to the at least one outlet in a first manner.

According to the aforementioned flat-plate acoustic wave microfluidic structure, a section of the microfluidic flow channel can be approximately in the shape of a circular arc.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a flat-panel acoustic wave microfluidic structure is provided, comprising a piezoelectric substrate, at least one first electrode group, at least one second electrode group, and at least two microfluidic flow channels; at least one first electrode group is disposed on the a first surface of the piezoelectric substrate; at least one second electrode group is arranged on a second surface of the piezoelectric substrate; at least two microfluidic flow channels are arranged on the first surface of the piezoelectric substrate; wherein, each microfluidic contains at least one A particle, at least one of the at least one first electrode group and the at least one second electrode group is driven to make the piezoelectric substrate act in at least two flat-plate acoustic wave modes, and when the piezoelectric substrate is actuated in one flat-plate acoustic wave mode , triggering one of the at least two microfluidic flow channels, and triggering all the microfluidic flow channels in the at least two microfluidic flow channels when the piezoelectric substrate acts in another flat-panel acoustic wave mode.

According to the aforementioned flat-plate acoustic wave microfluidic structure, the number of the aforementioned at least two microfluidic flow channels can be four, and the sizes of the microfluidic flow channels are different.

According to the aforementioned flat-panel acoustic wave microfluidic structure, the positions of the at least one first electrode group correspond to the positions of the at least one second electrode group.

According to the aforementioned flat-panel acoustic wave microfluidic structure, the number of the at least one first electrode group can be four, the four first electrode groups are disposed on the first surface and surround the microfluidic channel, and the number of the at least one second electrode group It can be four, and each second electrode group corresponds to the position of each first electrode group.

10, 10a, 10b, 10c, 10d: Flat Sonic Microfluidic Structures

110: The first electrode group

111, 112: First interdigitated electrode

120: The second electrode group

121, 122: Second interdigitated electrode

130: Piezoelectric substrate

131: The first side

132: The second side

140, 140a, 140b, 140c, 140d, 140e, 140f, 140g: Microfluidics body flow channel

141: Export

150: Matrix

F: Microfluidics

H1: Thickness

H2: height

P: particle

PAW: Plate Acoustic Wave

T: substrate thickness

W1: width

X, Y, Z: axis

FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of a flat-panel acoustic wave microfluidic structure according to a first embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of the flat-plate acoustic wave microfluidic structure of the first embodiment of Fig. 1 along section line 2-2; Fig. 3A shows a partial cross-sectional view of the flat-plate acoustic wave microfluidic structure of the first embodiment of Fig. 2; Fig. 3B shows another partial cross-sectional view of the flat-plate acoustic wave microfluidic structure of the first embodiment of Fig. 2; Fig. 3C shows another partial cross-sectional view of the flat-plate acoustic wave microfluidic structure of the first embodiment of Fig. 2; Fig. 4A Figure 3A shows a partial top view of the flat-plate acoustic wave microfluidic structure of the first embodiment; Figure 4B shows another partial top view of the flat-plate acoustic wave microfluidic structure of the first embodiment of Figure 3B; Figure 4C shows Fig. 3C is another partial top view of the flat-plate acoustic wave microfluidic structure according to the first embodiment; Fig. 5 shows a cross-sectional view of a flat-plate acoustic wave microfluidic structure according to a second embodiment of the present invention; A schematic perspective view of a flat-panel acoustic wave microfluidic structure according to a third embodiment; FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view of a flat-panel acoustic wave microfluidic structure according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention; A three-dimensional schematic diagram of a flat-plate acoustic wave microfluidic structure according to the fifth embodiment; and FIG. 9 is a detailed enlarged view of a flat-plate acoustic wave microfluidic structure according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. For the sake of clarity, many practical details are set forth in the following description. The reader should understand, however, that these practical details should not be used to limit the invention. That is, in some embodiments of the present invention, these practical details are unnecessary. In addition, for the purpose of simplifying the drawings, some well-known and conventional structures and elements are shown in a simplified and schematic manner in the drawings; and repeated elements may be denoted by the same numerals or similar numerals.

In addition, when a certain element (or mechanism or module, etc.) is "connected", "arranged" or "coupled" to another element herein, it may mean that the element is directly connected, directly arranged or directly coupled to another element , can also mean that an element is indirectly connected, indirectly arranged or indirectly coupled to another element, that is, there are other elements interposed between the element and the other element. When it is expressly stated that an element is "directly connected", "directly arranged" or "directly coupled" to another element, it means that no other element is interposed between the said element and the other element. The terms first, second, and third are only used to describe different elements or components, and do not limit the elements/components themselves. Therefore, the first element/component may also be renamed as the second element/component. Moreover, the combination of elements/components/mechanisms/modules in this article is not a generally known, conventional or conventional combination in this field, and whether the components/components/mechanisms/modules themselves are known to determine whether their combination relationship is not Easily accomplished by those of ordinary knowledge in the technical field.

Please refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, wherein, FIG. 1 shows a three-dimensional schematic diagram of a flat-panel acoustic wave microfluidic structure 10 according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 shows the flat-panel acoustic wave microfluidic structure according to the first embodiment fluid structure 10. Sectional view along section line 2-2. As can be seen from FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the flat-panel acoustic wave microfluidic structure 10 includes a piezoelectric substrate 130, at least one first electrode group 110, at least one second electrode group 120, and a microfluidic channel 140; the aforementioned at least one first electrode group 110 An electrode group 110 is disposed on a first surface 131 of the piezoelectric substrate 130 ; the aforementioned at least one second electrode group 120 is disposed on a second surface 132 of the piezoelectric substrate 130 ; the microfluidic channel 140 is disposed on the piezoelectric substrate 130 The first surface 131 is for accommodating a microfluid F; wherein, the microfluid F contains at least one particle P, and at least one of the at least one first electrode group 110 and the at least one second electrode group 120 is driven The piezoelectric substrate 130 is actuated in at least two flat-plate acoustic wave modes. When the piezoelectric substrate 130 is actuated in a flat-plate acoustic wave mode, the at least one particle P acoustophores in a first manner. When the piezoelectric substrate 130 is actuated in another In the plate acoustic wave mode, the at least one particle P performs acoustophoresis in a second manner.

Therefore, by changing the mode of the flat-panel acoustic wave, the application diversity of the flat-panel acoustic wave microfluidic structure 10 can be improved.

In the manufacturing process, an opening groove with a specific shape can be formed at the bottom of a base body 150, and after the base body 150 is disposed on the piezoelectric substrate 130, the space formed between the opening groove and the piezoelectric substrate 130 is the microfluidic flow. In the track 140, the substrate 150 may be a polymer organosilicon compound (PDMS), and may be fabricated using, for example, Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS). The substrate thickness T of the piezoelectric substrate 130 of the plate acoustic wave microfluidic structure 10 is small enough to be vibrated by the plate acoustic wave PAW, for example, less than a few centimeters. It varies according to the size and characteristics of the particles to be screened or controlled, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

In this embodiment, the number of the first electrode groups 110 of the flat acoustic wave microfluidic structure 10 can be four. The number can be four, and the positions of each second electrode group 120 and each first electrode group 110 can correspond to each other in a two-dimensional direction, for example, on the X-axis-Y-axis, wherein the corresponding position can refer to the same position or offset dislocation But still arranged in the same symmetrical way. In other embodiments, the number of the first electrode group and the second electrode group can be changed according to the actual application, and the first electrode group and the second electrode group can be arranged asymmetrically, and different electrode group configurations have different acoustic wave spectrums, By changing the configuration of the electrode group, different flat-panel acoustic wave modes can also be excited under the same input signal. The configuration and quantity of each electrode group can be changed according to the actual application, and the present invention is not limited by this.

As shown in FIG. 1, each first electrode group 110 may include two first interdigitated electrodes 111 and 112. After receiving the signal, an electric field is established, and the piezoelectric substrate 130 is subjected to the action of the electric field to generate coupled vibration, so as to emit a flat-panel acoustic wave PAW, It is transmitted to the microfluidic flow channel 140, and the microfluidic F is pushed by the flat-panel acoustic wave PAW to form a sound pressure node and an acoustic jet. Changing the signal can cause some particles P in the microfluidic F to be affected by different sound pressures, acoustic jets, or other sounds that can cause sound. Different acoustophoretic behaviors can be produced due to the effect of the swimming effect, not limited to the above. As shown in FIG. 2 , each of the second electrode groups 120 also includes two second interdigital electrodes 121 and 122 , which are respectively disposed corresponding to the first interdigitated electrodes 111 and 112 . In other words, each of the first interdigitated electrodes 111 corresponds to each other. Each second interdigitated electrode 121, each An interdigitated electrode 112 corresponds to each of the second interdigitated electrodes 122 .

Please refer to FIG. 3A and FIG. 4A, and also refer to FIG. 2, wherein, FIG. 3A shows a partial cross-sectional view of the flat-panel acoustic wave microfluidic structure 10 according to the embodiment of FIG. 2, at this time only the first electrode group 110 Receive a signal; Fig. 4A shows a partial top view of the flat-panel acoustic wave microfluidic structure 10 of the first embodiment of Fig. 3A. In this embodiment, the piezoelectric substrate 130 can act in three flat panel acoustic wave modes when the first electrode group 110 and the second electrode group 120 receive different signals, and FIG. 3A and FIG. 4A illustrate the first flat panel acoustic wave mode state. It can be seen from FIG. 3A that when a signal is input to the first electrode group 110 alone, each of the first interdigitated electrodes 111 and 112 receives the signal and establishes a first electric field, so that the piezoelectric substrate 130 is actuated in the first flat acoustic wave mode. , the complex particles P in the microfluidic F are acoustophores in the first way, showing the first arrangement as shown in Figure 4A.

Please refer to FIG. 3B and FIG. 4B, and also refer to FIG. 2, wherein, FIG. 3B is a partial cross-sectional view of the flat-panel acoustic wave microfluidic structure 10 according to the embodiment of FIG. 2, and the first electrode set 110 and the The two electrode sets 120 receive signals of the same phase; FIG. 4B shows another partial top view of the flat-panel acoustic wave microfluidic structure 10 according to the first embodiment of FIG. 3B . It can be seen from FIG. 3B and FIG. 4B that the first electrode group 110 and the second electrode group 120 simultaneously input signals of the same phase, that is, each of the first interdigital electrodes 112 and each of the second interdigitated electrodes 122 have the same phase, and each The first interdigitated electrode 111 and each of the second interdigitated electrodes 121 are in the same phase, so that the piezoelectric substrate 130 is actuated in the second plate acoustic wave mode, and the plurality of particles P in the microfluid F are acoustophores in the second mode, and A second arrangement as shown in Figure 4B is presented.

Please refer to FIG. 3C and FIG. 4C, and also refer to FIG. 2, wherein, FIG. 3C shows a partial cross-sectional view of the flat-panel acoustic wave microfluidic structure 10 according to the embodiment of FIG. 2, and the first electrode set 110 and the The two electrode sets 120 receive signals of opposite phases; FIG. 4C shows another partial top view of the flat-panel acoustic wave microfluidic structure 10 according to the first embodiment of FIG. 3C . It can be seen from FIG. 3C and FIG. 4C that when the first electrode group 110 and the second electrode group 120 input opposite signals respectively, it means that the phases of the first interdigital electrodes 112 and the second interdigital electrodes 122 are opposite, and Each of the first interdigitated electrodes 111 and each of the second interdigitated electrodes 121 have opposite phases. At this time, the piezoelectric substrate 130 is actuated in the third plate acoustic wave mode, and the complex particles P in the microfluidic F are acoustophores in the third mode. , and present the third arrangement as shown in Figure 4C. To sum up, under the same configuration of the first electrode group 110 and the second electrode group 120, the flat-panel acoustic wave mode can be switched by changing the signal, and the acoustophoresis mode of the particle P in the microfluidic F can be changed. Frequency, wavelength, etc. also affect the excited flat-panel acoustic wave modes.

Please refer to FIG. 5, which is a cross-sectional view of a flat-panel acoustic wave microfluidic structure 10a according to a second embodiment of the present invention. It can be seen from FIG. 5 that the microfluidic channel 140 is disposed inside the substrate 150 instead of the bottom. The microfluidic channel 140 has a width W1, a thickness H1 and a height H2 relative to the piezoelectric substrate 130. In this embodiment In an example, the width W1, the thickness H1 and the height H2 can all be less than several centimeters. During design, the size, shape or position of the microfluidic channel 140 can be changed according to the characteristics of different microfluidics F and particles, and the desired acoustophoresis. In addition, the total height of the substrate 150 will also affect the excited flat-panel acoustic wave mode, the first electrode group, the second The traveling wave excited by the signal of the electrode group propagates upward and encounters the rebound of the air interface and interferes to form a standing wave. The sound pressure distribution at a higher position in the microfluidic F is not limited by the node position of the piezoelectric substrate 130, but is controlled by the excitation frequency instead. The lateral node distance can make the particles close to the top area of the substrate 150 move to the longitudinal position by the longitudinal standing wave, and present longitudinal distribution.

Please refer to FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, wherein, FIG. 6 shows a partial perspective view of a flat-panel acoustic wave microfluidic structure 10b according to a third embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 7 shows a fourth embodiment of the present invention. An example is a partial three-dimensional schematic diagram of a flat-panel acoustic wave microfluidic structure 10c, and for the sake of brevity, FIGS. It can be seen from FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 that a cross-section of the microfluidic flow channels 140a and 140b can be roughly arc-shaped, that is, a semi-circular arc is presented on the Y-axis-Z-axis plane. However, the microfluidic flow channel 140a actually The upper surface is hemispherical, while the microfluidic flow channel 140b is actually a semi-cylindrical shape. The plate acoustic wave PAW excited by at least one of the first electrode group or the second electrode group will be affected by the shape of the microfluidic flow channels 140a and 140b. The difference affects the incident angle and produces different height nodes, so that the particles in the microfluidic flow channels 140a and 140b are affected by different forces to produce different changes. In other embodiments, the cross-section of the microfluidic flow channel can be changed according to the actual particle characteristics to be controlled, such as curve, curved surface, etc., which does not limit the present invention.

Please refer to FIG. 8, wherein, FIG. 8 is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of a flat-panel acoustic wave microfluidic structure 10d according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention. For the sake of brevity, the first electrode is not shown in FIG. 8. group with second electrode Group. As can be seen from FIG. 8, the flat-plate acoustic wave microfluidic structure 10d includes at least two microfluidic flow channels 140c, 140d, 140e, and 140f. When the piezoelectric substrate 130 operates in a flat-plate acoustic wave mode, the at least two microfluidic flow channels 140c, 140c, and 140f are triggered. One of the microfluidic flow channels 140d, 140e, and 140f (eg, the microfluidic flow channel 140c), when the piezoelectric substrate 130 is actuated in another flat-panel acoustic wave mode, at least two microfluidic flow channels 140c, 140d, 140e, All microfluidic flow channels 140c, 140d, 140e, 140f in 140f. In this embodiment, the number of the microfluidic flow channels 140c, 140d, 140e, and 140f is four. Since the resonant frequencies of the microfluidic flow channels 140c, 140d, 140e, and 140f of different sizes are different, it can be selected by changing the input signal. At least one or more of the microfluidic flow channels 140c, 140d, 140e, 140f are triggered sexually, for example, the microfluidic flow channel 140c is triggered individually, or the microfluidic flow channels 140d, 140e are triggered at the same time, or even the microfluidic flow channels are triggered at the same time. The flow channels 140c, 140d, 140e and 140f; in other embodiments, the number, size, shape and relative position of the microfluidic flow channels can be changed according to actual needs, which is not intended to limit the present invention.

Please refer to FIG. 9. FIG. 9 shows a detailed enlarged view of a flat-panel acoustic wave microfluidic structure according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention, and only shows a detailed enlarged view of the microfluidic channel 140g. As can be seen from FIG. 9, the microfluidic channel 140g may include at least one outlet 141. When the piezoelectric substrate is actuated in a flat-panel acoustic wave mode, at least one particle P acoustophores to the at least one outlet 141 in the first manner; When the electrical substrate operates in another flat plate acoustic wave mode, the particles P acoustophores to another outlet 141 in a second manner. As shown in FIG. 9, the microfluidic flow channel 140g may include three outlets 141, and in a flat plate acoustic wave mode state , the particle P can acoustophore to the leftmost and rightmost exits 141 . In other embodiments, each outlet can also present a height difference in the vertical direction, and different particles in the microfluidic can be acoustophoresed to different outlets respectively through different flat plate acoustic wave modes. The flow channel can also be a closed cavity without any outlet, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

To sum up, by changing the configuration of the first electrode group and the second electrode group, changing the input signal or changing the structure of the microfluidic flow channel to switch the flat panel acoustic wave mode, the application diversity of the flat panel acoustic wave microfluidic structure can be improved.

Although the present invention has been disclosed as above with examples, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Anyone skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection of the present invention The scope shall be determined by the scope of the appended patent application.

10: Flat Sonic Microfluidic Structure

110: The first electrode group

111, 112: First interdigitated electrode

130: Piezoelectric substrate

140: Microfluidic flow channel

150: Matrix

X, Y, Z: axis

Claims (10)

A flat-plate acoustic wave microfluidic structure, comprising: a piezoelectric substrate; a base body disposed on a first surface of the piezoelectric substrate; at least one first electrode group disposed on the first surface of the piezoelectric substrate; at least one The second electrode group is arranged on a second surface of the piezoelectric substrate; and a microfluidic channel is arranged inside the base body and has a width, a thickness and a height relative to the piezoelectric substrate, the height greater than zero, and the microfluidic channel accommodates a microfluid; wherein, the microfluidic contains at least one particle, and at least one of the at least one first electrode group and the at least one second electrode group is driven to make The piezoelectric substrate operates in at least two flat-plate acoustic wave modes. When the piezoelectric substrate operates in one of the flat-plate acoustic wave modes, the at least one particle performs acoustophoresis in a first manner. In the flat plate acoustic wave mode, the at least one particle is acoustophores in a second mode. The plate acoustic wave microfluidic structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the piezoelectric substrate vibrates under the action of a plate acoustic wave. The flat-panel acoustic wave microfluidic structure of claim 1, wherein the at least one first electrode group corresponds to the position of the at least one second electrode group. The flat-plate acoustic wave microfluidic structure according to claim 3, wherein the number of the at least one first electrode group is four, the four first electrode groups are disposed on the first surface and surround the microfluidic flow channel, and the at least one first electrode group is The number of the second electrode groups is four, and each of the second electrode groups corresponds to the position of each of the first electrode groups. The flat-plate acoustic wave microfluidic structure of claim 1, wherein the microfluidic flow channel comprises at least one outlet, and the at least one particle acoustophores to the at least one outlet in the first manner. The flat-plate acoustic wave microfluidic structure according to claim 1, wherein a cross-section of the microfluidic flow channel is approximately arc-shaped. A flat-plate acoustic wave microfluidic structure, comprising: a piezoelectric substrate; at least one first electrode group disposed on a first surface of the piezoelectric substrate; at least one second electrode group disposed on a second surface of the piezoelectric substrate surface; and at least two microfluidic flow channels disposed on the first surface of the piezoelectric substrate; wherein, at least one of the at least one first electrode group and the at least one second electrode group is driven to make the piezoelectric The substrate operates in at least two flat-plate acoustic wave modes, and when the piezoelectric substrate operates in one of the flat-plate acoustic wave modes, one of the microfluidic flow channels in the at least two microfluidic flow channels is triggered, and when the piezoelectric substrate operates in the other one The at least two microfluidic channels are triggered when the flat plate is in the acoustic wave mode in all of the microfluidic flow channels. The flat-plate acoustic wave microfluidic structure according to claim 7, wherein the number of the at least two microfluidic flow channels is four, and the sizes of the microfluidic flow channels are different. The flat-plate acoustic wave microfluidic structure according to claim 7, wherein the at least one first electrode group corresponds to the position of the at least one second electrode group. The flat-panel acoustic wave microfluidic structure according to claim 9, wherein the number of the at least one first electrode group is four, the four first electrode groups are disposed on the first surface and surround the microfluidic flow channel, and the at least one first electrode group is The number of the second electrode groups is four, and each of the second electrode groups corresponds to the position of each of the first electrode groups.

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