Nonlinear hydrodynamic effects induced by Rayleigh surface acoustic wave in sessile droplets.

We report an experimental and numerical characterization of three-dimensional acoustic streaming behavior in small droplets of volumes (1-30 µl) induced by surface acoustic wave (SAW). We provide a quantitative evidence of the existence of strong nonlinear nature of the flow inertia in this SAW-driven flow over a range of the newly defined acoustic parameter F{NA}=Fλ/(σ/R_{d})≥0.01, which is a measure of the strength of the acoustic force to surface tension, where F is the acoustic body force, λ is the SAW wavelength, σ is the surface tension, and R{d} is the droplet radius. In contrast to the widely used Stokes model of acoustic streaming, which generally ignores such a nonlinearity, we identify that the full Navier-Stokes equation must be applied to avoid errors up to 93% between the computed streaming velocities and those from experiments as in the nonlinear case. We suggest that the Stokes model is valid only for very small acoustic power of ≤1 µW (F{NA}<0.002). Furthermore, we demonstrate that the increase of F{NA} above 0.45 induces not only internal streaming, but also the deformation of droplets.

Integrated microfluidics system using surface acoustic wave and electrowetting on dielectrics technology.

This paper presents integrated microfluidic lab-on-a-chip technology combining surface acoustic wave (SAW) and electro-wetting on dielectric (EWOD). This combination has been designed to provide enhanced microfluidic functionality and the integrated devices have been fabricated using a single mask lithographic process. The integrated technology uses EWOD to guide and precisely position microdroplets which can then be actuated by SAW devices for particle concentration, acoustic streaming, mixing and ejection, as well as for sensing using a shear-horizontal wave SAW device. A SAW induced force has also been employed to enhance the EWOD droplet splitting function.