Collapse-free thermal bonding technique for large area microchambers in plastic lab-on-a-chip applications

Bonding is an essential step to form microchannels or microchambers in lab-on-a-chip applications. In this paper, we present a novel plastic thermal bonding technique to seal and form large area microchambers (planar characteristic width and length on the order of 1 mm and characteristic thickness on the order of 10–100 μm) without collapse by introducing a holed pressure equalizing plate (HPEP) that includes holes of the same size and shape as the microchambers. To demonstrate the proposed technique, two types of large area microchambers [(1) 20 × 10 mm and 40 μm thick and (2) 12 × 2.5 mm and 120 μm thick] with microchannels were designed and replicated on plastic substrates by means of hot embossing and injection molding processes with prepared two nickel mold inserts. The replicated large area microchambers as well as the microchannels in the plastic lab-on-a-chip were successfully sealed (i.e., no leakage) and formed without any collapse by the proposed thermal bonding technique with the help of the HPEP.     

A study of roll‐printing technology for TFT‐LCD fabrication

Abstract— Recently, potential breakthrough technologies for low‐cost processing of TFT‐LCDs and new process developments for flexible‐display fabrication have been widely studied. A roll‐printing process using etch‐resist material as a replacement for photolithographic patterning was investigated. The characterization of the properties of patterns formed in roll printing, a method to fabricate cliché plates for fine patterns, and the design of a new formulation for resist printing ink is reported. The pattern position accuracy, which is one of the most important issues for the successful application of printing processes in display manufacturing was studied and how it can be improved by optimizing the blanket roll structure is explained. New design rules for the layout of the thin‐film‐transistor array was derived to improve the compatibility of roll printing. As a result, a prototype 15‐in.‐XGA TFT‐LCD panel was fabricated by using printing processes to replace all the photolithographic patterning steps conventionally used.     

3-D manipulation of millimeter- and micro-sized objects using an acoustically excited oscillating bubble

This communication describes novel 3-D manipulations of objects using an acoustically excited oscillating bubble deposited on a hydrophobic rod tip. The oscillating bubble captures various millimeter- and micron-sized neighboring objects including glass and polystyrene beads (~100 μm), fish egg, and live water flea (~1 mm). The captured objects are carried in a 3-D space by traversing the bubble tip, and released at desired positions by simply turning off the oscillation. Carrying performance is characterized along with high-speed imaging of oscillating bubbles by varying the frequency and amplitude of the acoustic excitation and the carrying speed. The higher the oscillation amplitude, the higher the carrying efficiency. The maximum carrying speed is measured at over 3 mm/s. This method is effective with a low-level acoustic excitation (bubble oscillation amplitude relative to the diameter ≤5%), possibly providing a cost-effective, soft-contact manipulating tool for handling biological objects.     

Developable polynomial surface approximation to smooth surfaces for fabrication parameters of a large curved shell plate by Differential Evolution

This paper presents a simple and efficient method to approximate a developable surface to a compound design surface by a polynomial. It is required to predict a final shape of roll bending in the fabrication of a curved shell plate. The roll bending process usually makes the cylindrical or conical curvature from an initial flat plate. It means that the final shape is developable or the surface representation has zero Gaussian curvature. The fabrication shape is important in order to estimate process parameters of roller bending.An optimization problem is formulated to determine the polynomial surface which is in the closest proximity to the design surface or the given shell plate, which is subjected to developability. The results and the efficiency of this algorithm are verified and evaluated by applying it to some shell plates which are obtained from a real ship model. The predicted bending shape becomes fundamental information in determining more process parameters for the fabrication of a compound curved shell plate.     

Scalable optical hypercube-based interconnection network for massively parallel computing

Two important parameters of a network for massively parallel computers are scalability and modularity. Scalability has two aspects: size and time (or generation). Size scalability refers to the property that the size of the network can be increased with nominal effect on the existing configuration. Also, the increase in size is expected to result in a linear increase in performance. Time scalability implies that the communication capabilities of a network should be large enough to support the evolution of processing elements through generations. A modular network enables the construction of a large network out of many smaller ones. The lack of these two important parameters has limited the use of certain types of interconnection networks in the area of massively parallel computers. We present a new modular optical interconnection network, called an optical multimesh hypercube (OMMH), which is both size and time scalable. The OMMH combines positive features of both the hypercube (small diameter, high connectivity, symmetry, simple routing, and fault tolerance) and the torus (constant node degree and size scalability) networks. Also presented is a three-dimensional optical implementation of the OMMH network. A basic building block of the OMMH network is a hypercube module that is constructed with free-space optics to provide compact and high-density localized hypercube connections. The OMMH network is then constructed by the connection of such basic building blocks with multiwavelength optical fibers to realize torus connections. The proposed implementation methodology is intended to exploit the advantages of both space-invariant free-space and multiwavelength fiber-based optical interconnect technologies. The analysis of the proposed implementation shows that such a network is optically feasible in terms of the physical size and the optical power budget.     

Effect of deposition temperature on dielectric properties of PECVD Ta2O5 thin film

Tantalum oxide film formation by plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) using TaCl₅ as a source material was examined. The effects of deposition temperature on the formation, structure and electric properties of the Ta₂O₅ film were investigated for Al/Ta₂O₅/ p-Si (MTS) capacitors. The deposition rate and refractive index increased with increasing deposition temperature. It was found that the structure of Ta₂O₅ deposited by PECVD was amorphous as-deposited. However, crystalline -Ta₂O₅ of hexagonal structure was formed by a 700 °C, 1 h heat treatment in argon. Capacitance and relative dielectric constant of the PECVD Ta₂O₅ were found to be 2.54 fF m^–2 and 23.5, respectively. The PECVD films obtained in this study have higher dielectric constants and remarkably better general film characteristics than those obtained by other deposition methods.     

Preparation and characterization of poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) and Nylon 6 graft copolymer

Summary A poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) (PPO, 1) macroinitiator having carbonylcaprolactam groups was prepared through metalation of methyl group of PPO and subsequent modification to introduce carboxyl group, acid chloride group, and finally carbonylcaprolactam group. Anionic ring opening copolymerization of -caprolactam took place onto the macroinitiator to give a graft copolymer of PPO and Nylon 6. The structure of intermediate materials and the graft copolymer were characterized by ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, and IR spectroscopy. Glass transition temperatures and melting temperatures of these materials are also reported. It is found that the copolymer has a microphase-separated morphology even with segment molecular weight as low as 3000.     

Optical binary de Bruijn networks for massively parallel computing: design methodology and feasibility study

The interconnection network structure can be the deciding and limiting factor in the cost and the performance of parallel computers. One of the most popular point-to-point interconnection networks for parallel computers today is the hypercube. The regularity, logarithmic diameter, symmetry, high connectivity, fault tolerance, simple routing, and reconfigurability (easy embedding of other network topologies) of the hypercube make it a very attractive choice for parallel computers. Unfortunately the hypercube possesses a major drawback, which is the complexity of its node structure: the number of links per node increases as the network grows in size. As an alternative to the hypercube, the binary de Bruijn (BdB) network has recently received much attention. The BdB not only provides a logarithmic diameter, fault tolerance, and simple routing but also requires fewer links than the hypercube for the same network size. Additionally, a major advantage of the BdB network is a constant node degree: the number of edges per node is independent of the network size. This makes it very desirable for large-scale parallel systems. However, because of its asymmetrical nature and global connectivity, it poses a major challenge for VLSI technology. Optics, owing to its three-dimensional and globalconnectivity nature, seems to be very suitable for implementing BdB networks. We present an implementation methodology for optical BdB networks. The distinctive feature of the proposed implementation methodology is partitionability of the network into a few primitive operations that can be implemented efficiently. We further show feasibility of the presented design methodology by proposing an optical implementation of the BdB network.     

3D Printable One-Part Carbon Nanotube-Elastomer Ink for Health Monitoring Applications

3D printing of conductive elastomers is a promising route to personalized health monitoring applications due to its flexibility and biocompatibility. Here, a one-part, highly conductive, flexible, stretchable, 3D printable carbon nanotube (CNT)-silicone composite is developed and thoroughly characterized. The one-part nature of the inks: i) enables printing without prior mixing and cures under ambient conditions; ii) allows direct dispensing at ≈100 µm resolution printability on nonpolar and polar substrates; iii) forms both self-supporting and high-aspect-ratio structures, key aspects in additive biomanufacturing that eliminate the need for sacrificial layers; and iv) lends efficient, reproducible, and highly sensitive responses to various tensile and compressive stimuli. The high electrical and thermal conductivity of the CNT-silicone composite is further extended to facilitate use as a flexible and stretchable heating element, with applications in body temperature regulation, water distillation, and dual temperature sensing and Joule heating. Overall, the facile fabrication of this composite points to excellent synergy with direct ink writing and can be used to prepare patient-specific wearable electronics for motion detection and cardiac and respiratory monitoring devices and toward advanced personal health tracking and bionic skin applications.     

RFID Positioning and Physiological Signals for Remote Medical Care

The safety of patients and the quality of medical care provided to them are vital for their wellbeing. This study establishes a set of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification)-based systems of patient care based on physiological signals in the pursuit of a remote medical care system. The RFID-based positioning system allows medical staff to continuously observe the patient's health and location. The staff can thus respond to medical emergencies in time and appropriately care for the patient. When the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, the proposed system was used to provide timely information on the location and body temperature of patients who had been screened for the disease. The results of experiments and comparative analyses show that the proposed system is superior to competing systems in use. The use of remote monitoring technology makes user interface easier to provide high-quality medical services to remote areas with sparse populations, and enables better care of the elderly and patients with mobility issues. It can be found from the experiments of this research that the accuracy of the position sensor and the ability of package delivery are the best among the other related studies. The presentation of the graphical interface is also the most cordial among human-computer interaction and the operation is simple and clear.