Self-Aligned Acoustofluidic Particle Focusing and Patterning in Microfluidic Channels from Channel-Based Acoustic Waveguides

David J. Collins, Richard O'Rorke, Citsabehsan Devendran, Zhichao Ma, Jongyoon Han, Adrian Neild, Ye Ai

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

69 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Acoustic fields have been widely used for manipulation of particles and cells within microfluidic systems. In this Letter, we explore a novel acoustofluidic phenomenon for particle patterning and focusing, where a periodic acoustic pressure field is produced parallel to internal channel boundaries with the imposition of either a traveling or standing surface acoustic wave (SAW). This effect results from the propagation and intersection of edge waves from the channel walls according to the Huygens-Fresnel principle and classical wave fronts from the substrate-fluid interface. We demonstrate versatile control over this effect to produce both one- and two-dimensional acoustic patterning from one-dimensional SAW fields and its utility for continuous particle focusing. Uniquely, this channel-guided acoustic focusing permits the generation of robust acoustic fields without channel resonance conditions and particle focusing positions that are difficult or impossible to produce otherwise.

Original languageEnglish
Article number074502
Number of pages6
JournalPhysical Review Letters
Volume120
Issue number7
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 Feb 2018

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