Faraday Waves-Based Integrated Ultrasonic Micro-Droplet Generator and Applications.

An in-depth review on a new ultrasonic micro-droplet generator which utilizes megahertz (MHz) Faraday waves excited by silicon-based multiple Fourier horn ultrasonic nozzles (MFHUNs) and its potential applications is presented. The new droplet generator has demonstrated capability for producing micro droplets of controllable size and size distribution and desirable throughput at very low electrical drive power. For comparison, the serious deficiencies of current commercial droplet generators (nebulizers) and the other ultrasonic droplet generators explored in recent years are first discussed. The architecture, working principle, simulation, and design of the multiple Fourier horns (MFH) in resonance aimed at the amplified longitudinal vibration amplitude on the end face of nozzle tip, and the fabrication and characterization of the nozzles are then described in detail. Subsequently, a linear theory on the temporal instability of Faraday waves on a liquid layer resting on the planar end face of the MFHUN and the detailed experimental verifications are presented. The linear theory serves to elucidate the dynamics of droplet ejection from the free liquid surface and predict the vibration amplitude onset threshold for droplet ejection and the droplet diameters. A battery-run pocket-size clogging-free integrated micro droplet generator realized using the MFHUN is then described. The subsequent report on the successful nebulization of a variety of commercial pulmonary medicines against common diseases and on the experimental antidote solutions to cyanide poisoning using the new droplet generator serves to support its imminent application to inhalation drug delivery.

Linear theory on temporal instability of megahertz faraday waves for monodisperse microdroplet ejection.

A linear theory on temporal instability of megahertz Faraday waves for monodisperse microdroplet ejection based on mass conservation and linearized Navier-Stokes equations is presented using the most recently observed micrometer- sized droplet ejection from a millimeter-sized spherical water ball as a specific example. The theory is verified in the experiments utilizing silicon-based multiple-Fourier horn ultrasonic nozzles at megahertz frequency to facilitate temporal instability of the Faraday waves. Specifically, the linear theory not only correctly predicted the Faraday wave frequency and onset threshold of Faraday instability, the effect of viscosity, the dynamics of droplet ejection, but also established the first theoretical formula for the size of the ejected droplets, namely, the droplet diameter equals four-tenths of the Faraday wavelength involved. The high rate of increase in Faraday wave amplitude at megahertz drive frequency subsequent to onset threshold, together with enhanced excitation displacement on the nozzle end face, facilitated by the megahertz multiple Fourier horns in resonance, led to high-rate ejection of micrometer- sized monodisperse droplets (>10(7) droplets/s) at low electrical drive power (<;1 W) with short initiation time (<;0.05 s). This is in stark contrast to the Rayleigh-Plateau instability of a liquid jet, which ejects one droplet at a time. The measured diameters of the droplets ranging from 2.2 to 4.6 µm at 2 to 1 MHz drive frequency fall within the optimum particle size range for pulmonary drug delivery.

A two-port polarization-insensitive coupler module between single-mode fiber and silicon-wire waveguide.

A two-port polarization-insensitive single-mode fiber-silicon wire-waveguide coupler module, 5.3 × 3.4 × 0.7 mm(3) in size, is realized. The spot-size converter (SSC) involved utilizes a concatenated horizontal up-taper and vertical down-taper. Measured coupling losses between the fiber and the silicon-wire waveguide of the E(11)(y) and E(11)(x) modes of the SSC are 2.8 and 2.7 dB/port, respectively. The device platform is planar, robust, and easy to fabricate with conventional lithography.

Ejection of uniform micrometer-sized droplets from Faraday waves on a millimeter-sized water drop.

This Letter reports the first observation and theoretical analysis of a new phenomenon: one large spherical water drop ejecting simultaneously a very large number of monodisperse microdroplets. An ultrasonic nozzle with multiple-Fourier horns in resonance enables controlled excitation of megahertz Faraday waves on the free water surface. The temporal instability of such waves leads to the ejection of 3.5-4.4 µm monodisperse droplets at a high rate (>4.0×10(7) droplets/sec). This is in stark contrast to the Rayleigh-Plateau instability, which ejects one droplet at a time.

Miniaturized multiple Fourier-horn ultrasonic droplet generators for biomedical applications.

Here we report micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS)-based miniaturized silicon ultrasonic droplet generators of a new and simple nozzle architecture with multiple Fourier horns in resonance but without a central channel. The centimetre-sized nozzles operate at one to two MHz and a single vibration mode which readily facilitates temporal instability of Faraday waves to produce monodisperse droplets. Droplets with diameter range 2.2-4.6 µm are produced at high throughput of 420 µl min(-1) and very low electrical drive power of 80 mW. We also report the first theoretical prediction of the droplet diameter. The resulting MHz ultrasonic devices possess important advantages and demonstrate superior performance over earlier devices with a central channel and thus have high potential for biomedical applications such as efficient and effective delivery of inhaled medications and encapsulated therapy to the lung.

Silicon-based megahertz ultrasonic nozzles for production of monodisperse micrometer-sized droplets.

Monodisperse ethanol droplets 2.4 microm and water droplets 4.5 microm in diameter have been produced in ultrasonic atomization using 1.5- and 1.0-MHz microelectromechanical system (MEMS)-based silicon nozzles, respectively. The 1.5- and 1.0-MHz nozzles, each consisting of 3 Fourier horns in resonance, measured 1.20 cm x 0.15 cm x .11 cm and 1.79 cm x 0.21 cm x 0.11 cm, respectively, required electrical drive power as low as 0.25 W and could accommodate flow rates as high as 350 microl/min. As the liquid issues from the nozzle tip that vibrates longitudinally at the nozzle resonance frequency, a liquid film is maintained on the end face of the nozzle tip and standing capillary waves are formed on the free surface of the liquid film when the tip vibration amplitude exceeds a critical value due to Faraday instability. Temporal instability of the standing capillary waves, treated in terms of the unstable solutions (namely, time-dependant function with a positive Floquet exponent) to the corresponding Mathieu differential equation, is shown to be the underlying mechanism for atomization and production of such monodisperse droplets. The experimental results of nozzle resonance and atomization frequencies, droplet diameter, and critical vibration amplitude are all in excellent agreement with the predictions of the 3-D finite element simulation and the theory of Faraday instability responsible for atomization.

Acousto-Optics: introduction to the feature issue.

This Acousto-Optics feature celebrates the scientific careers of two remarkable scientists, Antoni Sliwinski and Adrian Korpel. The feature includes original papers based on a representative selection of topics that were presented at the Tenth Spring School on Acousto-Optics held in Poland in May 2008.

Single-mode fiber with a plano-convex silicon microlens for an integrated butt-coupling scheme.

A single-mode fiber with plano-convex silicon microlens is proposed for butt-coupling between single-mode fibers and high-index-contrast waveguides with fine mode-field diameter. The lensed fiber has two specific features, high focusing power, and null working distance. The theoretical focus-spot diameter at the endface of the lensed fiber is calculated to be as small as 0.56 microm at a wavelength 1.55 microm. A simple fabrication method for the lensed fiber employing chemical etching and rf-sputtering is presented. Experiments showed that the mode-field-diameter of a single-mode fiber was successfully contracted from 10.5 to 1.3 microm with the lensed fiber.

High-frequency, silicon-based ultrasonic nozzles using multiple Fourier horns.

This paper presents the design, simulation, and characterization of microfabricated 0.5 MHz, silicon-based, ultrasonic nozzles. Each nozzle is made of a piezoelectric drive section and a silicon resonator consisting of multiple Fourier horns, each with half wavelength design and twice amplitude magnification. Results of finite element three-dimensional (3-D) simulation using a commercial program predicted existence of one resonant frequency of pure longitudinal vibration. Both impedance analysis and measurement of longitudinal vibration confirmed the simulation results with one pure longitudinal vibration mode at the resonant frequency in excellent agreement with the design value. Furthermore, at the resonant frequency, the measured longitudinal vibration amplitude at the nozzle tip increases as the number of Fourier horns (n) increases in good agreement with the theoretical values of 2(n). Using this design, very high vibration amplitude gain at the nozzle tip can be achieved with no reduction in the tip cross-sectional area for contact of liquid to be atomized. Therefore, the required electric drive power should be drastically reduced, decreasing the likelihood of transducer failure in ultrasonic atomization.