Thin film Gallium nitride (GaN) based acoustofluidic Tweezer: Modelling and microparticle manipulation

Chao Sun; Fangda Wu; Yongqing Fu; David J Wallis; Roman Mikhaylov; Fan Yuan; Dongfang Liang; Zhihua Xie; Hanlin Wang; Ran Tao; Ming Hong Shen; Jian Yang; Wenpeng Xun; Zhenlin Wu; Zhiyong Yang; Huaixing Cang; Xin Yang

doi:10.1016/j.ultras.2020.106202

Thin film Gallium nitride (GaN) based acoustofluidic Tweezer: Modelling and microparticle manipulation

Ultrasonics. 2020 Dec:108:106202. doi: 10.1016/j.ultras.2020.106202. Epub 2020 Jun 4.

Authors

Chao Sun¹, Fangda Wu², Yongqing Fu³, David J Wallis⁴, Roman Mikhaylov², Fan Yuan⁵, Dongfang Liang⁶, Zhihua Xie⁷, Hanlin Wang², Ran Tao³, Ming Hong Shen⁸, Jian Yang⁸, Wenpeng Xun⁹, Zhenlin Wu¹⁰, Zhiyong Yang¹¹, Huaixing Cang¹², Xin Yang¹³

Affiliations

¹ School of Life Sciences, Northwestern Polytechnical University, 710072, PR China; Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, School of Engineering, Cardiff University, CF24 3AA, UK. Electronic address: chaosun@nwpu.edu.cn.
² Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, School of Engineering, Cardiff University, CF24 3AA, UK.
³ Faculty of Engineering and Environment, Northumbria University, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE1 8ST, UK.
⁴ Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, School of Engineering, Cardiff University, CF24 3AA, UK; Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, University of Cambridge, CB3 0FS, UK.
⁵ Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering, Duke University, NC 27708-0281, USA.
⁶ Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, CB2 1PZ, UK.
⁷ Department of Civil Engineering, School of Engineering, Cardiff University, CF24, UK.
⁸ Preclinical Studies of Renal Tumours Group, Division of Cancer and Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, CF14 4XN, UK.
⁹ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, 710072, PR China.
¹⁰ School of Optoelectronic Engineering and Instrumentation Science, Dalian University of Technology, 116023, PR China.
¹¹ School of Mechanical Engineering, Tianjin University, 300072, PR China.
¹² School of Life Sciences, Northwestern Polytechnical University, 710072, PR China.
¹³ Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, School of Engineering, Cardiff University, CF24 3AA, UK. Electronic address: YangX26@cardiff.ac.uk.

PMID: 32535411
DOI: 10.1016/j.ultras.2020.106202

Abstract

Gallium nitride (GaN) is a compound semiconductor which shows advantages in new functionalities and applications due to its piezoelectric, optoelectronic, and piezo-resistive properties. This study develops a thin film GaN-based acoustic tweezer (GaNAT) using surface acoustic waves (SAWs) and demonstrates its acoustofluidic ability to pattern and manipulate microparticles. Although the piezoelectric performance of the GaNAT is compromised compared with conventional lithium niobate-based SAW devices, the inherited properties of GaN allow higher input powers and superior thermal stability. This study shows for the first time that thin film GaN is suitable for the fabrication of the acoustofluidic devices to manipulate microparticles with excellent performance. Numerical modelling of the acoustic pressure fields and the trajectories of mixtures of microparticles driven by the GaNAT was performed and the results were verified from the experimental studies using samples of polystyrene microspheres. The work has proved the robustness of thin film GaN as a candidate material to develop high-power acoustic tweezers, with the potential of monolithical integration with electronics to offer diverse microsystem applications.

Keywords: GaN; Microfluidics; Particle manipulation; SAW; Thin film.