Home › Cell Biology › Fabrication and Operation of Acoustofluidic Devices Supporting Bulk Acoustic Standing Waves for Sheathless Focusing of Particles
Cell Biology JoVE (Open Access) Citable · DOI

Fabrication and Operation of Acoustofluidic Devices Supporting Bulk Acoustic Standing Waves for Sheathless Focusing of Particles

DOI: 10.3791/53861-v
What you'll learn
  • ✓ Fabricate acoustofluidic devices using photolithography and deep reactive ion etching
  • ✓ Perform anodic bonding to seal microfluidic channels
  • ✓ Operate acoustic standing wave systems for particle focusing without sheath fluids
Protocol

Biopharma Insights Acoustofluidic devices use ultrasonic waves within microfluidic channels to manipulate, concentrate and isolate suspended micro and nanoscopic entities. This protocol describes the fabrication and operation of such a device supporting bulk acoustic standing waves to focus particles in a central streamline without the aid of sheath fluids.

Difficulty
advanced
Total time
~3–5 days (including fabrication, cleaning, bonding, device testing)

Steps

1
Perform photolithography on silicon wafer

Pattern photoresist on silicon substrate using photomask and UV exposure to define microfluidic channel geometry.

▶ 00:57
2
Execute deep reactive ion etching

Etch channel features into silicon wafer using DRIE to create the required microfluidic architecture.

▶ 02:13
3
Clean wafer using piranha solution

Remove organic residues and native oxide from etched wafer surface via piranha chemical cleaning.

▶ 02:55
4
Bond glass and silicon wafers anodically

Apply high voltage and heat to seal glass coverslip to etched silicon wafer, forming sealed microfluidic channels.

▶ 03:46
5
Finalize acoustofluidic device assembly

Affix piezoelectric transducers and inlet/outlet tubing to complete the functional acoustofluidic device.

▶ 05:41
6
Operate device and generate acoustic standing waves

Apply electrical excitation to piezo transducers to establish bulk acoustic standing waves within the microfluidic channel.

▶ 06:44
7
Verify particle focusing and acoustic performance

Observe and characterize sheathless particle focusing along the channel centerline induced by acoustic radiation forces.

▶ 08:01
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