Microfluidics
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| Schematic
of novel combined photolithographic and imprint lithography
process developed by Professor Cliff Henderson’s group
that uses photodefinable thermally sacrificial polymers
to fabricate microfluidic and MEMS devices. |
Microfluidics: Microfluidics in general refers to systems
which manipulate fluids in microchannels and microdevices ranging
from nanometers to hundreds of microns in size. Typical fluid
volumes elements that can be manipulated in such systems range
in size from microliters to picoliters. One common name used
for devices which handle fluids at these size scales is “lab-on-a-chip”
devices. Such devices are already finding applications in a
variety of areas including microchemical reactors systems, combinatorial
materials synthesis and characterization, drug development and
screening, genetic diagnostics and testing, and many other emerging
areas. Microfluidics research in the School of Chemical &
Biomolecular Engineering spans the full range of activities
in the field of microfludics including (1) materials design,
synthesis, and selection for device fabrication, (2) development
of novel fabrication processes, (3) design and characterization
of novel microfluidic systems, (4) use of microfluidic systems
as research tools for studying a variety of phenomena in fields
ranging from bioengineering to polymer reaction engineering,
and (5) integration of microfluidic systems with other microelectronic
and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS).
Current Studies
- Development of photosensitive thermally sacrificial polymers
and processes for microfluidic device fabrication
- Use of novel fabrication techniques to build on-chip, multi-layered,
interconnected microchannel networks and devices
- Design, fabrication, and characterization of microfluidic
fluid pumping devices
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| Final
cell/particle sorting device fabricated on silicon that
contains ~0.25 meters of microfluidic channel structures
and millions of sieving posts within the structure.
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- Design, fabrication, and characterization of microfluidic
separation devices
- Integration of microfluidic devices with CMOS integrated
circuit (IC) technology
- Development of materials and processes for the fabrication
of microfluidic fuel cell systems
- Development of materials and microfluidic devices for active
cooling of microelectronic devices
- Use of microfluidic systems for microrheological studies
of complex fluids
- Development of microfluidic devices for studying cell and
organism behaviors in complex biological, chemical, and physical
environments
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