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Research in Sensors and Actuators
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Affiliated Faculty:
Harold Craighead,
David Erickson,
Ephrahim Garcia,
Brian Kirby
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Developments in our ability to engineer systems at micro- and nanoscale
have led to revolutions in our ability to sense and actuate.
Our micro- and nanoscale sensor and actuator research incorporates fluidic, mechanical,
and optical systems for advances in biological detection, chemical analysis, and microscale
flow control.
For sensing applications, nanoscale systems are advantageous because
the volume in which the target is confined is shrunk down to the
same scale as that of the target itself. This enables concentration of
the detection technique (e.g. electrical impedance spectroscopy) to that
same very small volume, thereby significantly enhancing the detection
signal.
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Electroactive nanowell structures are being integrated with discrete droplet
translocation techniques to create adaptable environmental sensor platforms.
(Courtesy David Erickson)
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We are
working on techniques for integrating nanophotonic structures
with nanofluidic delivery mechanisms to create high throughput,
high fidelity optofluidic biosensor arrays.
(Courtesy David Erickson) |
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Though there are fundamental advantages to this approach, developing fluidic techniques
for delivering or attracting targets into the nano-detection site and
resolving the detection signal involves a number of challenges. Our research in this area
involves the development of high throughput, high fidelity sensors and
sensor arrays. Our current focus is on highly parallel surface phase
binding reactions (for single nucleotide polymorphism screening or immunoassay).
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Our microscale mechanical sensors and actuator research incorporates resonator systems for ultrasensitive detection as well as
electrical and thermal actuators.
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A thermally-actuated microdrive with internal capacitance displacement sensing and micro-amplification from
x- to y-axis.
(Courtesy Ephrahim Garcia) |
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A microfluidic injector for mixing and reacting approximately 500 picoliters of fluid at high pressures (70 atm)
before injecting the results into a miniaturized high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) system.
A chemically-etched glass substrate holds laser-polymerized fluoropolymer elements that open and close fluidic
channels just like transistors in microelectronic circuits open and close electrical connections.
(Courtesy
Brian Kirby) |
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Our micro- and nanofluidic control systems include techniques for control of low-pressure nanofluidic
systems and high-pressure microscale systems, for surface binding assays and chemical separation systems.
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