Abstract
This study proposes a method to drive a solid by liquid–solid coupling and designs and manufactures a surface acoustic wave actuator to drive a wetted solid ball. The solid ball moves under surface acoustic wave microfluidic acoustic streaming. By theoretical analysis and experimental testing, the driving model is systematically examined in terms of the influence of the device frequency, input power, droplet viscosity, and other parameters on the movement of the ball. The speed at the mark end of the ball under 4.17 W of input power and driving at 60-MHz frequency in pure water reaches 0.175 m/s. Compared with the driving method of a surface acoustic wave linear motor, this wetted solid-driven method easily ensures that the solid ball drives to reach the same order of speed, avoiding numerous problems present in the existing surface acoustic wave linear motors. The proposed method provides important guidance and is of practical significance for the application of surface acoustic wave technology in micromotors and micromanipulation.
Highlights
Surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices are extensively used in radiofrequency (RF) signal processing and mobile and wireless communication filters, which have become the basis of the mobile communication industry
Based on the solid ball drive model by SAW microfluidic streaming, the effects of the device frequency, input power, and droplet viscosity on the motion of the solid ball are systematically examined by theoretical analysis and experimental measurement
In this study, based on the action of SAW microfluidic acoustic streaming, we propose a liquid–solid coupling method to drive a wetted ball
Summary
Surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices are extensively used in radiofrequency (RF) signal processing and mobile and wireless communication filters, which have become the basis of the mobile communication industry. Recently, SAW devices have found widespread utilization in microfluidics and on-chip laboratories owing to their low cost, rapid microfluidic drive, good miniaturization performance, and compatibility with other sensors and microfluidic devices. Sensors and microfluidic technologies based on SAWs have been applied in the fields of biology, chemistry, and medical engineering.2 In such devices, the interdigital transducer (IDT) on the piezoelectric material is excited by a high-frequency voltage signal. By the inverse piezoelectric effect, the input electrical signal is transformed into a mechanical vibration, and the SAW having the same frequency as the external electrical signal is excited.3,4 This wave propagates along the surface of the substrate material; its amplitude decreases rapidly with the increase in the depth of the substrate material and generally rapidly attenuates within 3–4 wavelengths. Based on the solid ball drive model by SAW microfluidic streaming, the effects of the device frequency, input power, and droplet viscosity on the motion of the solid ball are systematically examined by theoretical analysis and experimental measurement
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