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2, FEBRUARY 2013
601
I. I NTRODUCTION
PPLICATION of microfluidic technology on lab-on-achip for biological and chemical processes has tremendous potential. Chemical analysis, mixing, bio-sensing, and
particle separation are just a few examples of these applications. Among those, particle sorting/separation [1] and cytometry [2] are extremely sensitive to the flow rate within the
microfluidic network. Therefore, flow meters integrated within
a lab-on-a-chip to enable real time monitoring of the flow rate
significantly improve the functionality of such a device.
Various flow meters have been reported in the literature
by employing micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) to
602
flow sensor
Inlet
LOC
Outlet
Platform
(a)
Outlet
Inlet
Flow sensor
LOC
Platform
(b)
Fig. 1. Two different setups for integrating the flow sensor in a LOC device.
(a) Monolithic integration. (b) Hybrid integration.
such as multilayer micromixers, the flow sensor can be monolithically integrated into the design as shown in Fig. 1a.
If the desired LOC is not a multilayer PDMS device, the flow
sensor can be hybrid integrated as a stand-alone unit as shown
in Fig. 1b.
The 3D schematic of the flow sensor is shown in Fig. 2a.
The flow enters the device through the inlet, faces the
microcantilever and then exits towards the outlet. Since the
microcantilever is free, the flow induces the loading to
the microcantilever and deflects it. The flow induced loading
causes the cantilevers deflection (Fig. 2b). The high aspect
ratio PDMS microcantilever is suspended within the microfluidic device and is sandwiched between the bottom and top
thick PDMS layers (Fig. 2c). As the microcantilever deflects
within the horizontal plane, the deflection is readily detected
using vision based optical microscopy.
III. FABRICATION OF I NTEGRATED PDMS
M ICROCANTILEVER W ITHIN A M ICROCHANNEL
The fabrication process of the integrated PDMS microcantilever within the microfluidic network is detailed in Fig. 3.
A 4-inch silicon wafer is cleaned with acetone and DI water,
the surface is blow-dried with pure nitrogen, followed by
baking for 5 min at 200 C to dehydrate the surface (Fig. 3a).
A SU8 mold is made using a standard photolithographic
technique. The negative photoresist SU8 (MicroChem Corp.)
is spin coated at 1500 rpm for 1 min to reach the thickness
of 80 m (Fig. 3b). The SU-8 is next soft-baked for 3 min at
65 C and for 7 min at 95 C in a hotplate. The resist is then
cooled down at room temperature and exposed to UV light
for 30 s using a photo mask (Fig. 3c). Post-exposure bake
step (PEB) is then carried out, baking the resist for 3 min at
65 C and for 6 min at 95 C in order to cross-link the SU-8.
The SU-8 layer is then developed to obtain the SU8 mold
(Fig. 3d).
In order to employ flexible microstructures for bio-sensing,
a multi-layer technique is developed. The microfluidic device
involves a middle thin layer and two more top and bottom
603
PDMS microcantilever
Outlet
Top layer
Inlet
Bottom layer
Middle layer
(a)
Hollow feature
PDMS microcantilever
Hollow feature
Microcantilever
Top layer
Inlet
Thin layer
Outlet
Fluid loading
Bottom layer
A-A
A
(c)
(b)
Fig. 2.
(a)
Schematic of the PDMS microcantilever-based flow sensor. (a) 3-D schematic of the design. (b) Top view. (c) Cross section.
(e)
(b)
(f)
(c)
(g)
(d)
(h)
Fig. 3. Fabrication process of a multilayer PDMS device. (a) Cleaning.
(b) SU8 coating. (b) UV exposure. (c) SU8 exposure to light. (e) Thin-layer
PDMS loading. (f) Thin layer peeled off. (g) Thin- and bottom-layer bonding.
(h) Top-layer bonding.
604
Blocking
PDMS
Clamping force
SU8
SU8
PDMS
PDMS
SU8
SU8
Si
Si
(b)
(a)
10 m
50 m
(c)
(d)
(e)
Fig. 4. Blocking PDMS film as challenge in fabricating thin PDMS layer. (a) Squeezing the thin layer. (b) Blocking PDMS film. (c) PDMS microcantilever.
(d) Cross section of PDMS microcantilever with blocking layer. (e) Cross section of fully released PDMS microcantilever without blocking layer.
605
Support
Microcantilever
250 m
(a)
F
700 m
500 m
(b)
(c)
Force (N)
Fig. 5. Characterization of the PDMS microcantilever using a precision balance. (a) Schematic of the balance setup. (b) Experimental setup. (c) Contact
between the PDMS microcantilever and glass plate.
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
y = 0.46x
50
100
150
200
250
Deflection (m)
Fig. 6.
606
Microscope
CCD
Lens
Inlet
Image
processing
Outlet
Syring pump
Microcantilever
Flow sensor
(a)
(b)
Outlet
Inlet
Thin layer
100 m
Top layer
Bottom layer
(c)
(d)
Fig. 7. (a) Schematic of experimental setup for the fluid flow test of the PDMS microcantilever. (b) Experimental setup. (c) Fabricated microdevice.
(d) Deflected cantilever under fluid flow.
Stop
Start
incompressible. The fluid domain is governed by the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations and the continuity equations
[29] as follows
100
80
0.2 ml/min
60
0.5 ml/min
40
0.7 ml/min
1.0 ml/min
20
0
1.3 ml/min
0
Fig. 8.
10
20
30
Time (s)
40
50
VI. S IMULATION
3D numerical analysis is performed to estimate the deflection of microcantilever under various flow rates. The proposed
model consists of the main microchannel with one inlet,
one outlet and the microcantilever suspended within the
microchannel (Fig. 9a). Water with density of = 1000 kg/m3
and dynamic viscosity = 0.001 Pas is used as the medium
to test the cantilever performance.
The sequential coupled method is used to numerically solve
the interactions between the fluid and the solid structure.
The flow is assumed to be laminar Newtonian, viscous and
u
(pI + (u + (u)T ) + (u ) u) = F
t
u = 0
(1)
(2)
(3)
607
Outlet
Microchannel
Microcantilever
500 m
Inlet
(a)
Fig. 9.
(b)
3-D numerical result of fluid structure interaction for a water flow rate of 0.2 mL/min. (a) CAD model. (b) Deflected condition of microcantilever.
the end point of microcantilever is considered as fixed boundary condition. The fluid loading is applied on the cantilever
surface. The PDMS microcantilever is considered isotropic
with Youngs modulus of estimated K value of 802 KPa
(Fig. 6) and Poissons ratio of 0.45. The microchannels cross
section has 840 m width and 240 m depth.
COMSOL Multiphysics 3.5 software is used to model the
fluid flow within the channel and to solve the governing
equations of fluid structure interaction. The iterative coupling
with individual systems of equations is solved for the fluid
and the structure. Coupling is achieved through the transfer of
fluid structure interaction between the fluid and the structure
within a nonlinear iteration loop. Since the microcantilever
has a large deformation and the fluid flow domain also
changes considerably, the moving mesh application mode is
used to model the fluidic domain deformation along with the
mechanical structure. The deflection of microcantilever under
the flow rate of 0.2 ml/min is shown in Fig. 9b.
The numerical results for the microcantilever response to
various flow rates are compared with the experimental data
in Fig. 10. The comparison of simulation and experimental
results confirm the reasonable accuracy of the model presented
for the PDMS microcantilever for the range of flow rates
considered. For more linear response, one could use the linear
range of the response (00.6 ml/min).
Since the accuracy of the measurement is limited by the
1.76 m resolution of the image taken by optical microscopy,
the minimum flow rate that can be detected in the present
combination of flow meter and optical camera is 35 l/min as
estimated by FE simulation. This corresponds to a 0.8 N
resolution in equivalent force at the tip. By employing a
thinner top PDMS layer, higher resolution optical objectives
can be used to increase the quality of the image taken by the
microscope and improve the minimum detectable flow rate.
Additionally, the sensitivity of the cantilever can be increased
by modifying the geometry of the cantilever. The present
flow sensor has special application in environments with no
electric field hence, integration of electrical elements such as
piezoresistive or piezoelectric elements to the sensing element
should be avoided. However, this flow sensor can be integrated
with optical waveguides within the PDMS microcantilever in
Fig. 10. Comparison of simulation and experiment results for the deflection
of the PDMS microcantilever for different flow rates.
608
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609
Rama Bhat received the Bachelors degree in engineering from Karnataka Regional Engineering College, Srinivasanagar, India, (National Institute of
Technology, Karnataka) in 1966, and the M.Tech.
and Ph.D. degrees in mechanical engineering from
IIT Madras, Chennai, India, in 1968 and 1972,
respectively.
He is a Professor of Mechanical and Industrial
Engineering with Concordia University, Montreal,
QC, Canada. He has trained many Ph.D. students
in these areas since he joined the Department of
Mechanical and Industrial Engineering in 1979. His current research interests
include mechanical vibrations, vehicle dynamics, structural acoustics, rotor
dynamics, dynamics of micro-electro-mechanical systems.
Dr. Bhat is a fellow of the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering,
the Engineering Institute of Canada, the American Society of Mechanical
Engineers, and the Indian Institution of Engineers. He served as the President
of the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering from 2004 to 2006. He
received the prestigious NASA Award for Technical Innovation for his contribution in developing "PROSSSProgramming Structured Synthesis System."
He proposed the use of Boundary Characteristic Orthogonal Polynomials for
use in the Rayleigh Ritz Method in 1985.