Optimization of Electrode Patterns for an ITO-Based Digital Microfluidic through the Finite Element Simulation

Abstract

Indium tin oxide (ITO)-based digital microfluidics (DMF) with unique optical and electrical properties are promising in the development of integrated, automatic and portable analytical systems. The fabrication technique using laser direct etching (LDE) on ITO glass has the advantages of being rapid, low cost and convenient. However, the fabrication resolution of LDE limits the minimum line width for patterns on ITO glasses, leading to a related wider lead wire for the actuating electrodes of DMF compared with photolithography. Therefore, the lead wire of electrodes could affect the droplet motion on the digital microfluidic chip due to the increased contact line with the droplet. Herein, we developed a finite element model of a DMF with improved efficiency to investigate the effect of the lead wire. An optimized electrode pattern was then designed based on a theoretical analysis and validated by a simulation, which significantly decreased the deformation of the droplets down to 0.012 mm. The performance of the optimized electrode was also verified in an experiment. The proposed simulation method could be further extended to other DMF systems or applications to provide an efficient approach for the design and optimization of DMF chips.

An Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Digital Microfluidic System for Multistate Droplet Control

“…The electrodes were directly etched onto the bottom plate (52 mm x 50 mm) using a UV laser operating at a wavelength of 355 nm and a pulse duration of 20 μs. 45 Then, the glass plates were cleaned with ethanol for 10 minutes to remove residual material and exposed to plasma treatment for 1 minute. Following the application of a vacuum -deposited Parylene C film (~2 µm thick) onto the bottom plate surface as a dielectric layer, CYTOP films were spin-coated (2000rpm, 30s) onto both the top and bottom plates to serve as hydrophobic layers.…”

“…The electrodes were directly etched onto the bottom plate (52 mm x 50 mm) using a UV laser operating at a wavelength of 355 nm and a pulse duration of 20 μs. 45 Then, the glass plates were cleaned with ethanol for 10 minutes to remove residual material and preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder. All rights reserved.…”

An Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Digital Microfluidic System for Multistate Droplet Control

“…The electrodes were directly etched onto the bottom plate (52 mm x 50 mm) using a UV laser operating at a wavelength of 355 nm and a pulse duration of 20 µs. 47 Then, the glass plates were cleaned with ethanol for 10 minutes to remove residual material and exposed to plasma treatment for 1 minute. Following the application of a vacuum-deposited Parylene C lm (~ 2 µm thick) onto the bottom plate surface as a dielectric layer, CYTOP lms were spin-coated (2000rpm, 30s) onto both the top and bottom plates to serve as hydrophobic layers.…”

Perspective Coatings Based on Structured Conducting ITO Thin Films for General Optoelectronic Applications

“…Coatings 2024, 14, 178 3 of 16 potentially interesting technical decision for microfluidics applications (as an alternative to ITO with UV treatment [45], patterned ITO [46], or ITO coated on a PET film [47]).…”