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The realization of efficient mixing of samples inside a microfluidic channel is essential for performing numerous biological assays in miniaturized total analysis systems. The low Reynolds number flows at the microscale create laminar streams inside the microchannel, limiting flow mixing to a molecular diffusion level. In this paper, we propose a simple and efficient acoustofluidic mixing technique inside a single-layered polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microfluidic channel. The proposed surface acoustic wave (SAW)-based system composed of a straight interdigitated transducer (IDT) is positioned beneath the PDMS microchannel. Fluorescein dye dissolved in deionized water (sample fluid) and deionized water (sheath fluid) was introduced through the first and second inlets of the PDMS microchannel, respectively. Their flow rates were controlled such that the sample fluid with fluorescein dye was hydrodynamically focused close to the bottom of the microchannel by the sheath fluid. High-frequency (140 MHz) SAWs, generated from the IDT placed right beneath the first outlet, mixed the two fluids under the influence of strong acoustic streaming flows. The mixed samples were then collected at the two outlet ports for further analysis of the mixing efficiency. The developed acoustofluidic mixing device required an input voltage of 12 Vpp at a total flow rate of 50 μl/min to realize complete mixing. At a similar applied voltage, the throughput of the proposed device could be further increased to 200 μl/min with a mixing efficiency of >90%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the advantages of high performance and low loss, interdigital surface acoustic wave (IDT-SAW) transducers are widely used in the fields of nondestructive testing, communication and broadcasting. The production, performance and application of surface acoustic wave (SAW) actuators has become a research hotspot. Based on the basic principle of SAW, an IDT-SAW transducer is designed and fabricated using silk-screen printing in this work. The experiment results show that in terms of SAW performance, the fabricated IDT-SAW transducer can generate standing wave fields comparable to those generated using traditional fabrication methods. The resonant frequency response of the IDT-SAW transducer and SAW attenuation coefficient were obtained by experiments. It has provided a method to test the transducer sensing performance by using fabricated IDT-SAW transducer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of these acoustical patent reviews is to provide enough information for a Journal reader to decide whether to seek more information from the patent itself. Any opinions expressed here are those of the reviewers as individuals and are not legal opinions. Printed copies of United States Patents may be ordered at $3.00 each from the Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks, Washington, DC 20231. Patents are available via the Internet athttp://www.uspto.gov. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conversion efficiency of electric microwave signals into surface acoustic waves in different types of superconducting transducers is studied with the aim of quantum applications. We compare delay lines containing either conventional symmetric transducers (IDTs) or unidirectional transducers (UDTs) at 2.3 GHz and 10 mK. The UDT delay lines improve the insertion loss with 4.7 dB and a directivity of 22 dB is found for each UDT, indicating that 99.4% of the acoustic power goes in the desired direction. The power lost in the undesired direction accounts for more than 90% of the total loss in IDT delay lines, but only ~3% of the total loss in the floating electrode unidirectional transducer delay lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surface acoustic wave (SAW) transducers are a well-established component used in numerous sensors, communications, and electronics devices. In this work, the authors report a systematic study of 320-800 nm period lithium niobate SAW interdigitated transducers (IDTs) corresponding to resonant frequencies in the 4-12 GHz range. An optimized SAW design and a nanofabrication process flow were developed, which enabled superior device performance in terms of frequency, signal losses, and electromagnetic coupling. The influence of the device alignment on the substrate crystal planes, in addition to the IDT period and electrode design, is found to have a significant impact on various process metrics. As an example, two identical SAW transducers fabricated perpendicular to each other may have a resonant frequency difference approaching 1 GHz, for the same harmonic mode. These and other trends are presented and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A technology-independent, inherently nonlinear approach is proposed for the compact modelling of high-frequency noise in microwave transistors under large-signal operating conditions. For the compact nonlinear noise model formulation we assume that noise generation can be described by a suitable set of distributed stochastic processes perturbing a very general, non-quasi-static deterministic description of the electron device, in accordance with the strategies adopted in physics-based methods for the choice and exploitation of microscopic diffusion noise sources. The propagation of the internal distributed noise sources up to the intrinsic device terminals leads to a set of non-stationary, correlated equivalent noise generators, nonlinearly controlled by the instantaneous large-signal working point of the device. Starting from a first formulation for the generators, formally derived from a physics-based description of the noise generation mechanisms widely adopted in distributed numerical modeling, mild approximations provide a fully behavioral representation that can be empirically extracted on the basis of measurement data only, and can be easily implemented into commercial computer-aided design tools by means of conventional, uncorrelated noise sources. As far as small-signal (i.e., linear) bias-dependent operation is concerned, it is shown how well-known, widely applied compact models for high-frequency noise can be considered as linearized special cases of the proposed approach. For a full validation, experimental examples are provided, both in small- and large-signal operation, for a GaAs-pHEMT, by considering the case study of a broad-band low-noise amplifier progressively driven into nonlinear regime by an increasing power interferer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reduction in power consumption and improvement in mass sensitivity are important considerations for surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices used in various sensing applications. Detection of minute quantities of a particular species (clinical sensing) and power requirements (wireless sensing) are two key metrics that must be optimized. In this paper, a 3-D finite element model (FEM) was employed to compare insertion loss (IL) and mass sensitivity of SAW sensors having microcavities filled with ZnO and nanocrystalline diamond to a standard two-port SAW design. Initial simulation results show that ZnO filled cavities (depth = 5 μm) were most effective at reducing power loss ΔIL = (6.03 dB) by increasing particle displacement (acousto-electric to mechanical transduction) at the output transducer. A 100-pg/cm2 load was applied to the sensing area of each device to evaluate mass sensitivity. Our simulations suggest that ZnO filled cavities with shallow depth (2.5 μm) have the greatest sensitivity. The FEM simulations are used to understand the acoustic wave propagation in microcavity-based SAW sensors. The observed enhancement in mass sensitivity and power transfer is attributed to waveguiding effects and constructive interference of the scattered acoustic waves from the microcavities. Devices fabricated with microcavities ~1 μm deep decreased IL by 3.306 dB compared with a standard SAW device. Additional simulations were conducted for each device configuration using the same depth in order to make a direct comparison between measured and simulated results. Our findings offer encouraging prospects for designing low IL highly sensitive microcavity-based SAW biosensors. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Lamb-wave acoustic devices have been proposed as a promising platform for sensing applications. In this paper, the performance of a GaN Lamb wave device as a liquid-based mass sensor is studied with respect to the effect of environmental parameters to the device performance, namely, the liquid flow-rate, device temperature, and presence of a thin gold film deposited on the GaN membrane. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents characterization results from surface acoustic wave resonator (SAWR) strain sensors used to carry out wireless passive differential strain measurement. An elevated temperature SAWR strain sensor characterization data set is presented and the results used to demonstrate temperature compensation strategies and overall measurement channel signal sensitivity improvements with a differential SAW sensing element pair. The results are generated by a new wide bandwidth wireless interrogator capable of interrogating two SAWR sensors at high sample rates. Cross axis sensitivity caused by loading conditions generating strains in different directions to the desired strain condition is shown and a compensation strategy presented. The compensation method has reduced the cross axis sensitivity from 24% to 4% of full scale output (FSO). The elevated temperature characterization performance between 20 °C and 100 °C demonstrated a maximum hysteresis level of 0.49% of FSO between 400 με in compression and tension and an overall reduction in the apparent strain due to temperature from approximately 5.5% to 2.7% of FSO. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Wafer-type piezoelectric transducers are effective transducers for the excitation and detection of ultrasonic Lamb waves in plate-like structures. Such transducers are, however, vulnerable to corrosion and physical damage when mounted in exposed locations. In this paper we describe an inductively coupled Lamb wave transducer that eliminates the need for direct electrical connections. Signals are coupled into and out of the transducer using two probe coils. In this paper we explore the operation of inductively coupled transducers both analytically and experimentally. Finite-element analysis is used to determine inductances and the coupling constant, and electrical circuit analysis to determine the transfer function and its dependence on the gap between the probe coils and the transducer. Experiments show that return signals of millivolt amplitude are obtained when the transducer is excited with 10-V amplitude pulses. These transducers are suitable for permanent mounting on structures to be monitored for cracks or flaws [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A template-free rapidly mixed reaction was employed to synthesize polyaniline nanofibers using chemical oxidative polymerization of aniline. Hydrochloric acid (HCl) and camphor sulfonic acid (CSA) were used in the synthesis to obtain 30- and 50-nm average diameter polyaniline nanofibers. The nanofibers were deposited onto layered ZnO/64deg YX LiNbO3 surface-acoustic-wave transducers. The sensors were tested toward hydrogen (H2) gas while operating at room temperature. The dopant for the polyaniline nanofiber synthesis was found to have a significant effect on the device sensitivity. The sensor response was found to be larger for the 50-nm diameter CSA-doped nanofiber based sensors, while the response and recovery times were faster for the 30-nm diameter HCl-doped nanofibers [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A linear frequency modulated transducer was earlier proposed for use in surface acoustic wave (SAW) tags and sensors. This reported work demonstrates that the hyperbolically frequency modulated (HFM) transducer has significant advantages for such devices often operating in a wide range of temperatures. The HFM transducer is practically insensitive to wide temperature variations, which expand or compress signals in time. Owing to the exponential change of the varying period with the electrode number, the expansion of the length of all the periods is equivalent to just a shift in time and the compressed signal remains practically unchanged in shape, just slightly shifted. Such a shift has no importance for SAW sensors/tags, which usually operate on the difference of delays of the compressed peaks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article profiles British professor Lord Alec Broers, considered as a pioneer in nanotechnology. It notes his study on the in-situ ion-etching of surfaces using a scanning electron microscope. Broers also works on lithography, building microscopes and fabrication of miniature components. He was also involved in device projects including Josephson microbridges and surface acoustic wave transducers.

Pure shear-horizontal surface acoustic wave (SHSAW) devices have been increasingly considered for liquid phase and biosensing applications because of their ability to operate under liquid-loaded conditions and intrinsic sensitivity to mass, stiffness, viscosity, and electrical perturbations occurring at the device/fluid interface. Typically, the SHSAW is weakly guided by a free surface boundary condition (BC) or may not even exist for some materials and orientations, such as the quartz ST-90° orientation considered in this work. For a surrounding free surface BC, the interdigital transducer (IDT) typically generates strong shear-horizontal bulk acoustic waves (SHBAWs) relative to SHSAW. For that reason, guiding structures, e.g., dense and/or thick electrodes in periodic or uniform configurations, are incorporated into the design and placed between IDTs in delay-line devices to increase the ratio of transduced SHSAW power to IDT input power, ηSHSAW. The degree of ηSHSAW improvement depends on the thickness, composition, and geometry of the guiding structure. In previous work, the authors evaluated ηSHSAW using hybrid finite and boundary element method (FEM/BEM) models, but were limited to cases of stress-free or finite-thickness-grating surrounding surfaces. This work extends the analysis to the important boundary condition case of uniform finite-thickness electrode guiding, which is typically employed in liquid-phase and biosensor applications. To integrate the uniform electrode guiding structure with the SHSAW device analysis, a combined finitelength uniform electrode structure followed by an additional quarter-wavelength electrode was considered. In this work, it is shown that adjusting the quarter-wavelength electrode's film thickness and length allows cancellation of the SHSAW reflection from the edge discontinuity. As a result, the finite-length uniform guiding electrode can be treated as if it extends to infinity, and ηSHSAW can be easily obtained. In addition, the finite thickness of all electrodes is considered in the calculations. To verify the model, an IDT with uniform guiding electrodes was simulated and compared with the experimental results of a fabricated and tested device. The simulations predict SHSAW excitation directivity of 9 dB by the IDT, which is experimentally confirmed to within 0.8 dB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]