Search results

The purpose of this study is to design and characterize the dielectrophoretic (DEP) microelectrodes with various array structure arrangements in order to produce optimum non-uniform electric field for particle capture. The DEP-electrodes with 2D electrode structure was fabricated and characterized to see the effect of electrode structure configuration on the capture capability of the cells suspending in the solution.

The presented microelectrode array structures are made of planar conductive metal structure having same size and geometry. Dielectrophoretic force (F_DEP) generated in the fluidic medium is initially simulated using COMSOL Multi-physics performed on two microelectrodes poles, which is then continued on three-pole microelectrodes. The proposed design is fabricated using standard MEMS fabrication process. Furthermore, the effect of different sinusoidal signals of 5, 10 and 15 volt peak to peak voltage (V_pp) at fixed frequency of 1.5 MHz on capturing efficiency of microelectrodes were also investigated using graphite metalloids particles as the suspended particles in the medium. The graphite particles that are captured at the microelectrode edges are characterized over a given time period.

Based on analysis, the capturing efficiency of microelectrodes at the microelectrode edges is increased as voltage input increases, confirming its dependency to the F_DEP strength and direction of non-uniform electric field. This dependency to field consequently increases the surface area of the accumulated graphite. It is also showed that the minimum ratio of the surface accumulated area of captured graphite is 1, 2.75 and 9 μm2 for 5, 10 and 15 V_pp, respectively. The simulation result also indicates a significant improvement on the performance of microelectrodes by implementing third pole in the design. The third pole effect the particles in the medium by creating stronger non-uniform electric field as well as more selective force toward the microelectrodes’ edges.

The microelectrode array arrangement is found as a reliable method to increase the strength and selectivity of non-uniform electric field distribution that affect F_DEP. The presented findings are verified through experimental test and simulation results.

The effect of high voltage pulses on the resistance of polymer thick film resistors (PTFR) is studied. It is found that the resistance decreases with both the amplitude and duration of the high voltage pulses and with the number of pulses. The change in resistance is attributed to the dielectrophoretic motion of graphite granules in the PVC medium when high voltage pulses are applied to PTFR. A model has been proposed through which the percentage change in resistance can be estimated in terms of the number of pulses, duration of pulses etc. Based on these investigations, we suggest a downward trimming method for PTFR through the application of high voltage pulses. This method of trimming is a clean process and trimmed resistors are free from hot spots.

This study aims to propose a contactless and continuous dielectrophoretic cell-separation device using quadrupole electric field. To examine the separation performance, numerical simulations of the electric field in the cross-section of the glass capillary installed in the center of the quadrupole electrode were conducted.

To estimate the magnitude of the dielectrophoretic force induced on cells, electrostatic analysis was performed by using a boundary-fitted coordinate system.Distribution of the electric field and gradient of the electric field square in the cross-section of the glass capillary were simulated for various ratios of radii of the glass capillary to the electrode rod.

The distribution of the electric field was found to have a cone-like profile about the center axis of the glass capillary with maximum at the internal surface of the glass capillary. The magnitude of the gradient of electric field square had similar distribution as that of the electric field, but had steeper slope near the internal surface of the glass capillary. The optimal values of the ratio of radii and the applied voltage were also estimated to achieve the local electric field strength suitable for cell separation.

One major advantage of the proposed device is simple and low fabrication cost, in addition to its contactless structure free from cell damage. Derived knowledge is instructive in achieving high-throughput cell separation without the use of devices of complex structure.

The effects of material parameters and processing conditions on the resistance drop by high voltage discharge in PVC – graphite thick film resistors are studied in this paper. The resistance drop increased upon an increase in graphite aggregate size, which is a function of material parameters and processing conditions. The resistance drop has been attributed to the dielectrophoretic motion of graphite particles in PVC by the application of high voltages to polymer thick film resistors.

The purpose of this paper is to use a particle velocity measurement technique on a tapered microelectrode device via changes of an applied voltage, which is an enhancement of the electric field density in influencing the dipole moment particles. Polystyrene microbeads (PM) have used to determine the responses of the dielectrophoresis (DEP) voltage based on the particle velocity technique.

Analytical modelling was used to simulate the particles’ polarization and their velocity based on the Clausius–Mossotti Factor (CMF) equation. The electric field intensity and DEP forces were simulated through the COMSOL numerical study of the variation of applied voltages such as 5 V p-p, 7 V p-p and 10 V p-p. Experimentally, the particle velocity on a tapered DEP response was quantified via the particle travelling distance over a time interval through a high-speed camera adapted to a high-precision non-contact depth measuring microscope.

The result of the particle velocity was found to increase, and the applied voltage has enhanced the particle trajectory on the tapered microelectrode, which confirmed its dependency on the electric field intensity at the top and bottom edges of the electrode. A higher magnitude of particle levitation was recorded with the highest particle velocity of 11.19 ± 4.43 µm/s at 1 MHz on 10 V p-p, compared to the lowest particle velocity with 0.62 ± 0.11 µm/s at 10 kHz on 7 V p-p.

This research can be applied for high throughout sensitivity and selectivity of particle manipulation in isolating and concentrating biological fluid for biomedical implications.

The comprehensive manipulation method based on the changes of the electrical potential of the tapered electrode was able to quantify the magnitude of the particle trajectory in accordance with the strong electric field density.

The paper aims to study the variation of electrical properties like electrical resistivity and current noise of a polymer thick film resistor, namely, PVC‐graphite thick film resistor, with parameters such as volume fraction, grain size, temperature and high voltage.

A model is proposed to explain the observed variations, which assumes that the texture of the polymer thick film resistor consists of insulator granules coated with conducting particles and also having cavities. The resistivity of these resistors is controlled mainly by the contact resistance between the conducting particles and the number of contacts each particle with its neighbors.

The variation of resistivity with temperature and high voltage is explained with the help of the model and it is attributed to the change in contact area and number of contacts. The current noise of these resistors is controlled mainly by the average relative resistance fluctuations between the conducting particles and the number of contacts each particle with its neighbors.

The variation of current noise with high voltage has also been explained with the help of this model and it is attributed to the change in number of conducting particles and conducting layers.

To design and optimize the traditional aluminum gallium nitride/gallium nitride high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) device in achieving improved performance and current handling capability using the Synopsys’ Sentaurus TCAD tool.

Varying material and physical considerations, specifically investigating the effects of graded barriers, spacer interlayer, material selection for the channel, as well as study of the effects in the physical dimensions of the HEMT, have been extensively carried out.

Critical figure-of-merits, specifically the DC characteristics, 2DEG concentrations and mobility of the heterostructure device, have been evaluated. Significant observations include enhancement of maximum current density by 63 per cent, whereas the electron concentration was found to propagate by 1,020 cm⁻³ in the channel.

This work aims to provide tactical optimization to traditional heterostructure field effect transistors, rendering its application as power amplifiers, Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit (MMICs) and Radar, which requires low noise performance and very high radio frequency design operations.

Analysis in covering the breadth and complexity of heterostructure devices has been carefully executed through extensive TCAD modeling, and the end structure obtained has been optimized to provide best performance.

This study aims to present a numerical analysis of the behavior of the electric field and flow field characteristics under electrohydrodynamics (EHD) force. The influence of the jet airflow under the EHD force is investigated when it impacts the inclined flat plate.

The high electrical voltage and angle of an inclined flat plate are tested in a range of 0–30 kV and 0–90^°, respectively. In this condition, the air is set in a porous medium and the inlet jet airflow is varied from 0–2 m/s.

The results of this study show that the electric field line patterns increase with increasing the electrical voltage and it affects the electric force increasing. The angle of inclined flat plate and the boundary of the computational model are influenced by the electric field line patterns and electrical voltage surface. The electric field pattern is the difference in the fluid flow pattern. The fluid flow is more expanded and more concentrated with increasing the angle of an inclined flat plate, the electrical voltage and the inlet jet airflow. The velocity field ratio is increased with increasing the electrical voltage but it is decreased with increasing the angle of the inclined flat plate and the inlet jet airflow.

The maximum Reynolds number, the maximum velocity field and the maximum cell Reynolds number are increased with increasing the electrical voltage, the inlet jet airflow and the angle of the inclined flat plate. In addition, the cell Reynolds number characteristics are more concentrated and more expanded with increasing the electrical voltage. The pattern of numerical results from the cell Reynolds number characteristics is similar to the pattern of the fluid flow characteristics. Finally, a similar trend of the maximum velocity field has appeared for experimental and numerical results so both techniques are in good agreement.

The emulation of synapses is essential to neuromorphic computing systems. Despite remarkable progress has been made in the two-terminal device (memristor), three-terminal transistors evoke greater attention because of the controlled conductance between the source and drain. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the synaptic plasticity of the TiO₂ nanowire transistor.

TiO₂ nanowire transistor was assembled by dielectrophoresis, and the synaptic plasticity such as paired-pulse facilitation, learning behaviors and high-pass filter were studied.

Facilitation index decreases with the increasing pulse interval. A bigger response current is obtained at the pulses with higher amplitude and smaller intervals, which is similar to the consolidated memory at the deeply and frequently learning. The increased current at the higher stimulus frequency demonstrates a promising application in the high-pass filter.

TiO₂ nanowire transistors possess broad application prospects in the future neural network.

This paper aims to present the capacitance characterization of tapered dielectrophoresis (DEP) microelectrodes as micro-electro-mechanical system sensor and actuator device. The application of DEP-on-a-chip (DOC) can be used to evaluate and correlate the capacitive sensing measurement at an actual position and end station of liquid suspended targeted particles by DEP force actuator manipulation.

The capability of both, sensing and manipulation was analysed based on capacitance changes corresponding to the particle positioning and stationing of the targeted particles at regions of interest. The mechanisms of DEP sensor and actuator, designed in DOC applications were energized by electric field of tapered DEP microelectrodes. The actual DEP forces behaviour has been also studied via quantitative analysis of capacitance measurement value and its correlation with qualitative analysis of positioning and stationing of targeted particles.

The significance of the present work is the ability of using tapered DEP microelectrodes in a closed mode system to simultaneously sense and vary the magnitude of manipulation.

The integration of DOC platform for contactless electrical-driven with selective detection and rapid manipulation can provide better efficiency in in situ selective biosensors or bio-detection and rapid bio-manipulation for DOC diagnostic and prognostic devices.