USE OF IMMISCIBLE FLUIDS IN DROPLET EJECTION THROUGH APPLICATION OF FOCUSED ACOUSTIC ENERGY

• Main Authors: MUTZ, Mitchell, W, FOOTE, James, K, ELLSON, Richard, N
• Format: Patent
• Language: English; French; German
• Published: 08.07.2020
• Subjects: APPLYING LIQUIDS OR OTHER FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL; ATOMISING APPARATUS; CASTING; CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL LABORATORY APPARATUS FOR GENERAL USE; CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROCESSES, e.g. CATALYSIS OR COLLOIDCHEMISTRY; CHEMISTRY; COMBINATORIAL CHEMISTRY; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS; i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; LIBRARIES, e.g. CHEMICAL LIBRARIES, IN SILICOLIBRARIES; LINING MACHINES; MAKING METALLIC POWDER; MANUFACTURE OF ARTICLES FROM METALLIC POWDER; METALLURGY; NOZZLES; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL; POWDER METALLURGY; PRINTING; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS; SPRAYING APPARATUS; SPRAYING OR ATOMISING IN GENERAL; STAMPS; THEIR RELEVANT APPARATUS; TRANSPORTING; TYPEWRITERS; WORKING METALLIC POWDER

The invention provides a method for generating droplets. Extremely fine droplets may be generated (on the order of 1 picoliter or less) using focused acoustic energy to eject the droplets from a reservoir containing two or more immiscible fluids. The droplets may include immiscible fluids or a single fluid. Typically, the droplets are ejected onto discrete sites on a substrate surface so as to form an array thereon. In some instances, the reservoirs contain layers of immiscible fluids, wherein an upper layer exhibits a nonuniform thickness. In such a case, fluid from a lower fluid layer may be propelled through an aperture region of the upper layer.