Microwave-induced adjustable nonlinear temperature gradients in microfluidic devices

Abstract

We describe on-chip microwave generation of spatial temperature gradients in a polymeric microfluidic device that includes an integrated microstrip transmission line. The transmission line was fabricated photolithographically on commercially available adhesive copper tape. The fluid temperature during microwave heating was measured by observing the temperature-dependent fluorescence intensity of a dye solution in the microchannel. Large interference effects, which were produced by superposition of a sinusoidal and two exponential temperature distributions, were measured at 12 GHz and 19 GHz. Temperature extremes of 31 °C and 53 °C at the minimum and maximum of the sinusoid were established within 1 s. The sinusoid also produced a quasilinear temperature gradient along a 2 mm distance with a slope of 7.3 °C mm−1. This technique has the potential to benefit many biological, chemical and physical applications requiring rapid temperature gradients.