Carol Livermore

Modular microfluidics offer the opportunity to combine the precise fluid control, rapid sample processing, low sample and reagent volumes, and relatively lower cost of conventional microfluidics with the flexible reconfigurability needed to accommodate the requirements of target applications such as drug toxicity studies. However, combining the capabilities of fully adaptable modular microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) assembly with the simplicity of conventional microfluidic fabrication remains a challenge. A hybrid polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-molding/photolithographic process is demonstrated to rapidly fabricate LEGO^®-like modular blocks. The blocks are created with different sizes that interlock via tongue-and-groove joints in the plane and stack via interference fits out of the plane. These miniature strong but reversible connections have a measured resistance to in-plane and out-of-plane forces of up to >6000× and >1000× the weight of the block itself, respectively. The LEGO^®-like interference fits enable O-ring-free microfluidic connections that withstand internal fluid pressures of >120 kPa. A single layer of blocks is assembled into LEGO^®-like cell culture plates, where the in vitro biocompatibility and drug toxicity to lung epithelial adenocarcinoma cells and hepatocellular carcinoma cells cultured in the modular microwells are measured. A double-layer block structure is then assembled so that a microchannel formed at the interface between layers connects two microwells. Breast tumor cells and hepatocytes cultured in the coupled wells demonstrate interwell migration as well as the simultaneous effects of a single drug on the two cell types.

Small-scale, out-of-plane actuators can enable tactile interfaces; however, achieving sufficient actuator force and displacement can require larger actuators. In this work, 2-mm² out-of-plane microactuators were created, and were demonstrated to output up to 6.3 µm of displacement and 16 mN of blocking force at 170 V. The actuators converted in-plane force and displacement from a piezoelectric extensional actuator into out-of-plane force and displacement using robust, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)-enabled, half-scissor amplifiers. The microscissors employed two layers of lithographically patterned SU-8 epoxy microstructures, laminated with a thin film of structural polyimide and adhesive to form compact flexural hinges that enabled the actuators’ small area. The self-aligned manufacture minimized assembly error and fabrication complexity. The scissor design dominated the actuators’ performance, and the effects of varying scissor angle, flexure thickness, and adhesive type were characterized to optimize the actuators’ output. Reducing the microscissor angle yielded the highest actuator performance, as it maximized the amplification of the half-scissor’s displacement and minimized scissor deformation under externally applied loads. The actuators’ simultaneously large displacements and blocking forces for their size were quantified by a high displacement-blocking force product per unit area of up to 50 mN·µm/mm². For a linear force–displacement relationship, this corresponds to a work done per unit area of 25 mN·µm/mm².

The design, analytical modelling, finite element analysis (FEA), and experimental characterization of a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) out-of-plane (vertical) translational piezoelectric lead–zirconate–titanate (PZT) bimorph actuator supported on Archimedes' spiral tethers are presented. Three types of bimorph actuators with different electrode patterns (with spiral tethers half actuated, fully actuated with uniform polarity, or fully actuated with reversed polarity) are designed and modelled. The two actuators with the highest predicted performance (half actuated and fully actuated with uniform polarity) are implemented and characterized. Both designs are fabricated by commercial processes and are compatible with integration into more complex MEMS systems. Analytical modelling and FEA are used to analyze and predict the actuators' displacements and blocking forces. Experimental measurements of the deflections and blocking forces of actuators with full uniform actuation and half actuation validate the design. At an applied voltage of 110 V, the out-of-plane deflections of the actuators with half actuation and full uniform actuation are measured at about 17 µm and 29 µm respectively, in good agreement with analytical predictions of 17.3 µm and 34.2 µm and FEA predictions of 17.1 µm and 25.8 µm. The blocking force for devices with half-actuated tethers is predicted to be 12 mN (analytical) and 10 mN (FEA), close to the experimental value of 9 mN. The blocking force for devices with full uniform actuation is predicted to be 23 mN (analytical) and 17 mN (FEA), as compared with 15 mN in experiments.

A technique for shape-selective directed assembly of anisotropic, deformable, chemically-identical microcomponents onto patterned rigid templates based on shape and size differences is modeled and demonstrated. The assembly method not only controls the selective placement of the components, but also aligns the components with the assembly sites. Unlike the assembly of isotropic (spherical) microcomponents, in which only size differences can be used to discriminate among chemically-identical components to achieve selective placement, differences in both shape and size can enable selectivity in the assembly of anisotropic (non-spherical) microcomponents. The present selective directed assembly is driven by shape-matching to a microfabricated template to provide selectivity, uniform chemical surface functionalization to promote assembly, and megasonic excitation to prevent assembly into poorly shape-matched binding sites. A theoretical framework quantifies the predicted selectivity of this approach and predicts that it will be effective for many material combinations, including hydrogels and bio-compatible polymers. Experiments demonstrate successful directed assembly of cylindrical, hydrogel colloidal microcomponents with 26 μm mean diameter and 50 μm length into silicon templates patterned with hemicylindrical assembly sites. During the assembly, tapered microcomponents with 150 μm length and a nominal diameter of 26 μm that decreases along the components’ lengths were successfully excluded from hemicylindrical assembly sites. These results provide the first demonstration of selective directed assembly of non-spherical microcomponents by this approach. The assembly shows high local yields in agreement with theory.

The design, finite element analysis (FEA), and experimental characterization of a MEMS out-of-plane (vertical) translational lead-zirconate-titanate (PZT) bimorph actuator supported on Archimedes' spiral tethers are presented. Two types of bimorph actuators with different electrode patterns (with spiral tethers half actuated or fully actuated) are designed and fabricated. Both designs are fabricated by commercial processes and are compatible with integration into more complex MEMS systems. Finite element analysis (FEA) was used to analyze and predict the displacements of both types of actuators. The deflections of both fully- actuated and half-actuated devices were measured experimentally to validate the design. At an applied voltage of 110V, the out-of-plane deflections of the actuators with half-actuated and fully-actuated tethers were measured at about 17 μm and 29 μm respectively, in good agreement with FEA predictions of 17.1 μm and 25.8 μm. The corresponding blocking forces are predicted as 10 mN and 17 mN by FEA.

The design, fabrication, and demonstration of a set of 2 mm², high-force actuators that combine piezoelectric in-plane actuators with MEMS-enabled scissor mechanisms (motion amplifiers) to simultaneously produce high out-of-plane forces and large out-of-plane displacements are presented. The microscissor motion amplifier employs two layers of lithographically-patterned SU-8 microstructure laminated with a thin film of structural polyimide and adhesive to form hinges. Performance is optimized by varying layer thickness and adhesive types. Measured displacements of >3 μm and measured forces of >5 mN are observed, corresponding to a displacement per unit area of 1.6 μm/mm² and a force per unit area of 2.6 mN/mm². Cyanoacrylate adhesive provides superior performance to silicone adhesive, with larger force output. Thicker polyimide hinges provide smaller displacement but greater force than thinner polyimide hinges. These powerful, compact actuators have significant potential for high-force applications like tactile displays and micropumps.

Impact-based vibrational energy harvesters that switch passively among dynamical modes to best match the ambient conditions and perform frequency up-conversion to maximize power output can increase the operational range over which harvesters output useful power. The disadvantage of impact-based harvesting is that it can lead to premature system failure. This paper presents modelling and experimental validation of a harvester with passively- switched dynamics in which a magnetic non-contact interaction replaces the impact-based interaction of previous systems for greater robustness. A low-frequency driving beam couples to a higher-frequency generating beam via tip magnets. Simulations predict that the noncontact interaction drives a diversity of dynamical modes in which the tip of the driving beam variously is repelled from and passes the tip of generating beam. Experiments validate the predicted dynamical behaviour of the system. Output power levels are similar to predictions, with a power of 903 μW on the primary resonance at 1 g acceleration.

This paper presents the design and experimental characterization of a compact parallel-beam architecture for low-frequency energy harvesters that switch passively among dynamical modes to extend their operational range. Two beams interact to generate power; a driving beam couples into low frequency vibrations, and a higher frequency generating beam outputs power upon impact by the driving beam. The system switches between modes in which the driving beam bounces off the generating beam (coupled motion) and modes in which the driving beam passes the generating beam (plucked motion). The compact structure is realized by mounting the generating beam within a U-shaped driving beam on a single support. A flexible tip is mounted inside the driving beam's U shape to enable robust interactions. This new architecture reduces system volume by 80% compared with an earlier model that has the same resonance frequency, but it also changes the flexible tip's role in the contact dynamics. The flexible tip is experimentally tailored to optimize performance. The harvester generates power over the measured range of acceleration from 0.2 g to 2 g and driving frequency from 5 Hz to 20 Hz. With one tip design, the harvester offers peak power of 0.267 mW with plucked operation covering 32% of the tested range. With a second tip design, the harvester offers a lower peak power of 0.036 mW with plucked operation covering 73% of the tested range.

The modeling and demonstration of large stroke, high energy density and high power density torsional springs based on carbon nanotube (CNT) yarns is reported, as well as their application as energy-storing actuators for regenerative braking systems. An originally untwisted CNT yarn is cyclically loaded and unloaded in torsion, with the maximum rotation angle increasing incrementally until failure. The measured average extractable energy density values are 2.9 kJ kg⁻¹ ± 1.2 kJ kg⁻¹ and 3.4 kJ kg⁻¹ ± 0.4 kJ kg⁻¹ for 1-ply CNT yarns and 2-ply CNT yarns, respectively. Additionally, a regenerative braking system is demonstrated to capture the kinetic energy of a wheel and store it as elastic energy in twisted CNT yarns. When the yarn's twist is released, the stored energy reaccelerates the wheel. The measured energy and mean power densities of the CNT yarns in the simple regenerative braking setup are on average 3.3 kJ kg⁻¹ and 0.67 kW kg⁻¹, respectively, with maximum measured values of up to 4.7 kJ kg⁻¹ and 1.2 kW kg⁻¹, respectively. A slightly lower energy density of up to 1.2 kJ kg⁻¹ and a 0.29 kW kg⁻¹ mean power density are measured for CNT yarns in a more complex setup that mimics a unidirectional rotating regenerative braking mechanism.