A combined ElectroWetting On Dielectrics superhydrophobic platform based on silicon micro-structured pillars

• Published in: Microelectronic engineering Vol. 98; pp. 651 - 654
• Main Authors: Accardo, Angelo, Gentile, Francesco, Coluccio, Maria Laura, Mecarini, Federico, De Angelis, Francesco, Di Fabrizio, Enzo
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.10.2012; Elsevier
• Subjects: Applied fluid mechanics; Applied sciences; Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Electronics; EWOD; Exact sciences and technology; Fluid dynamics; Fluidics; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); Materials science; Microelectronic fabrication (materials and surfaces technology); Micromanipulator; Micropillars; Physics; Semiconductor electronics. Microelectronics. Optoelectronics. Solid state devices; Silicon; Solid-fluid interfaces; Superhydrophobicity; Surface treatments; Surfaces and interfaces; thin films and whiskers (structure and nonelectronic properties); Wetting; Micromanipulator; Silicon; Superhydrophobicity; Micropillars; EWOD; Wetting; Manipulators; Contact angle; Hydrophobicity; Microelectronic fabrication; Reactive ion etching; Very low voltage; Photolithography; Microfluidics
• ISSN: 0167-9317; 1873-5568
• DOI: 10.1016/j.mee.2012.07.028

[Display omitted] ► Si micro-structured superhydrophobic surfaces by plasma etch and optical lithography. ► High water contact angles up to 168°. ► Facile Electrowetting On Dielectric platform working at low DC voltages. ► Potential coupling of the setup with analytical in situ techniques (X-Rays, Raman). A simple and ready to use approach for combining silicon superhydrophobic surfaces with ElectroWetting On Dielectrics (EWOD) phenomenon is presented. The substrate is fabricated using a two-phases process, where a first optical lithography step is used to define the position of the micro-pillars and a second one exploits the characteristics of reactive ion etch Bosch technique. The fabricated substrate has been then coupled with a micro-manipulator tip to show the local changes mechanism of contact angle by applying very low DC voltages in the range from 5 to 30V. The device can be of interest for a wide variety of microfluidics applications related to the biomedical field.