Abstract
In this work, the prospects of integrating terahertz (THz) time-domain spectroscopy (TDS) within polymer-based microfluidic platforms are investigated. The work considers platforms based upon the polar polymers polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polycarbonate (PC), polymethyl-methacrylate (PMMA), polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), and the nonpolar polymers fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP), polystyrene (PS), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), and ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE). The THz absorption coefficients for these polymers are measured. Two microfluidic platforms are then designed, fabricated, and tested, with one being based upon PET, as a representative high-loss polar polymer, and one being based upon UHMWPE, as a representative low-loss nonpolar polymer. It is shown that the UHMWPE microfluidic platform yields reliable measurements of THz absorption coefficients up to a frequency of 1.75 THz, in contrast to the PET microfluidic platform, which functions only up to 1.38 THz. The distinction seen here is attributed to the differing levels of THz absorption and the manifestation of differing f for the systems. Such findings can play an important role in the future integration of THz technology and polymer-based microfluidic systems.
Highlights
Terahertz (THz) radiation is of growing interest in scientific applications [1,2]
Its frequencies lie within the electromagnetic spectrum between the microwave and infrared regions, from 0.1 to 10 THz. This makes its radiation both non-ionizing [1,2,3,4] and sensitive to many of the key rotational and vibrational modes that characterize biological samples [1,5]. The signatures of these bio-molecular absorption characteristics are typically gleaned via THz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) [6,7,8] in support of DNA analyses [8,9], cancerous cell detection [8,10], diabetes diagnostics [11], and other applications
In light of the practical constraints, microfluidic platforms have been developed in recent years with a wide variety of polymers [16], including polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polycarbonate (PC), polymethyl-methacrylate (PMMA), polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP), polystyrene (PS), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), and ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) [17,18,19,20]
Summary
Terahertz (THz) radiation is of growing interest in scientific applications [1,2]. Its frequencies lie within the electromagnetic spectrum between the microwave and infrared regions, from 0.1 to 10 THz. In light of the practical constraints, microfluidic platforms have been developed in recent years with a wide variety of polymers [16], including polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polycarbonate (PC), polymethyl-methacrylate (PMMA), polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP), polystyrene (PS), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), and ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) [17,18,19,20]. Such polymers can be patterned into microfluidic platforms at relatively low cost and can offer varying levels of chemical resistance and biocompatibility. The findings and conclusions can support the development of future microfluidics-based THz-TDS systems
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