High quality, c-axis oriented zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films were grown on silicon substrate using RF magnetron sputtering. Surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices were fabricated with different thickness of ZnO ranging from 1.2 to 5.5 µm and the frequency responses were characterized using a network analyzer. Thick ZnO films produce the strongest transmission and reflection signals from the SAW devices. The SAW propagation velocity is also strongly dependent on ZnO film thickness. The performance of the ZnO SAW devices could be improved with addition of a SiO 2 layer, in name of reflection signal amplitude and phase velocity of Rayleigh wave.
Lab-on-a-chip (LOC) is one of the most important microsystems with promising applications in microanalysis, drug development and diagnosis, etc. We have been developing a LOC biodetection system using acoustic wave as a single actuation mechanism for both microfluidics and biosensing using low cost piezoelectric ZnO film. Surface acoustic waves (SAW) coupled into the liquid will induce acoustic streaming, or move the droplet on the surface. These have been utilized to make SAW-based micropumps and micromixers which are simple in structure, easy to fabricate, low cost, reliable and efficient. SAW devices and thin film bulk acoustic resonators (FBAR) have been fabricated on nanocrystalline ZnO thin films deposited using sputtering on Si substrates. A streaming velocity up to ~5cm/s within a microdroplet and a droplet moving speed of ~1cm/s have been achieved. SAW based droplet ejection and vaporization have also been realized. SAW devices and FBARs have been used to detect antibody/antigen and rabbit/goat immunoglobulin type G molecules, showing their high sensitivity. The results have demonstrated the feasibility of using a single actuation mechanism for the LOC.
Lab-on-a-chip (LOC) is one of the most important microsystem applications with promise for use in microanalysis, drug development, diagnosis of illness and diseases etc. LOC typically consists of two main components: microfluidics and sensors. Integration of microfluidics and sensors on a single chip can greatly enhance the efficiency of biochemical reactions and the sensitivity of detection, increase the reaction/detection speed, and reduce the potential cross-contamination, fabrication time and cost etc. However, the mechanisms generally used for microfluidics and sensors are different, making the integration of the two main components complicated and increases the cost of the systems. A lab-on-a-chip system based on a single surface acoustic wave (SAW) actuation mechanism is proposed. SAW devices were fabricated on nanocrystalline ZnO thin films deposited on Si substrates using sputtering. Coupling of acoustic waves into a liquid induces acoustic streaming and motion of droplets. A streaming velocity up to ˜5cm/s and droplet pumping speeds of ˜1cm/s were obtained. It was also found that a higher order mode wave, the Sezawa wave is more effective in streaming and transportation of microdroplets. The ZnO SAW sensor has been used for prostate antigen/antibody biorecognition systems, demonstrated the feasibility of using a single actuation mechanism for lab-on-a-chip applications.
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