MEMS-Based Microfluidic Devices

Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) technology can be integrated with microfluidic functionality to enable the generation of microdrops with unprecedented throughput and precise control of drop volume, speed, and placement. The most prominent examples of microdrop generators are in the field of inkjet printing where printheads with thousands of nozzles produce steady streams of microdrops at kilohertz repetition rates. In this paper, we discuss a proposed MEMS-based microfluidic drop generator that operates on the basis of a thermally induced Marangoni effect. We describe the physics of droplet generation and discuss operating performance relative to the fluid rheology, thermal modulation, and wavelength dependencies.