Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 9 May 2003:
Vol. 300. no. 5621, pp. 955 - 958
DOI: 10.1126/science.1083694
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Reports

Microfluidic Memory and Control Devices

Alex Groisman,* Markus Enzelberger, Stephen R. Quake{dagger}

We demonstrate microscopic fluidic control and memory elements through the use of an aqueous viscoelastic polymer solution as a working fluid. By exploiting the fluid's non-Newtonian rheological properties, we were able to demonstrate both a flux stabilizer and a bistable flip-flop memory. These circuit elements are analogous to their solid-state electronic counterparts and could be used as components of control systems for integrated microfluidic devices. Such miniaturized fluidic circuits are insensitive to electromagnetic interference and may also find medical applications for implanted drug-delivery devices.

Department of Applied Physics, California Institute of Technology, MS 128-95, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.



* Present address: Department of Physics, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093–0319, USA.

{dagger} To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: quake{at}caltech.edu

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Bioluminescent response of individual dinoflagellate cells to hydrodynamic stress measured with millisecond resolution in a microfluidic device.
M. I. Latz, M. Bovard, V. VanDelinder, E. Segre, J. Rohr, and A. Groisman (2008)
J. Exp. Biol. 211, 2865-2875
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Microfluidic Bubble Logic.
M. Prakash and N. Gershenfeld (2007)
Science 315, 832-835
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Universal scaling for polymer chain scission in turbulence.
S. A. Vanapalli, S. L. Ceccio, and M. J. Solomon (2006)
PNAS 103, 16660-16665
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Microfluidic vias enable nested bioarrays and autoregulatory devices in Newtonian fluids.
E. P. Kartalov, C. Walker, C. R. Taylor, W. F. Anderson, and A. Scherer (2006)
PNAS 103, 12280-12284
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
High-speed microfluidic differential manometer for cellular-scale hydrodynamics.
M. Abkarian, M. Faivre, and H. A. Stone (2006)
PNAS 103, 538-542
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)