Microfluidic Poly-Si Electrodes Capacitor ( Fabrication & Testing )

Abstract

In this project, I have to design, fabricate and testing a Microfluidic capacitor. The dielectric insulator is replaced with a dielectric fluid (deionized water) instead of usual solid state materials. The conductive material will be interdigitated electrodes of poly-si origin. The device will be fabricated using standard semiconductor processing technique. Since the insulator is substituted with fluid, thus the name Microfluidic capacitor. Microfluidics is a technology which refers to the research and development of microscale devices which handle small volumes of fluids (as small as micro-, nano-, picoand even femtolitre volumes). The devices themselves have dimensions ranging from several millimetres to micrometers and at least one of the dimensions of the device is often measured in micrometers, e.g., a channel in the device.The microscopic quantity of fluid is the key issue in microfluidics. Microfluidic devices require construction and design which differ from macro-scale devices. It is not generally possible to scale conventional devices down, since the dominant physical quantities change in the micro-world.In the micro-world, the liquid flow tends to be laminar, surface forces and surface tension start to dominate, and therefore, effects that are not seen in the macro-scale become significant. Therefore, the definition of microfluidics sometimes refers to general situations in which the small-size scale results in changes in fluid behaviour. The importance of microfluidics as an interdisciplinary technology is increasing, and its first applications are found in the areas of diagnostics and drug research. In addition to these, applications are also found within the process, electronics and chemical industry.