Geometry Scaling for Externally Balanced Cascade Deterministic Lateral Displacement Microfluidic Separation of...

Area of Science:

• Microfluidics
• Biotechnology
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Particle size fractionation is crucial for non-invasive monitoring in wearable microfluidic sensing applications.
• Deterministic Lateral Displacement (DLD) is a promising microfluidic technique for separating micro- and nano-sized particles.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel externally balanced multi-section cascade DLD approach with section-scaling.
• To expand the dynamic range of particle size separation for enhanced sensing capabilities.

Main Methods:

• Development of a robust modeling approach to analyze design tradeoffs and fabrication limits.
• Utilizing theoretical DLD equations and incorporating second-order effects like fabrication constraints, gap/pillar size ratio, and pillar shape.

Main Results:

• Demonstration of a wide variety of size fractionation ranges and separation resolutions.
• Achieving enhanced performance by cascading multiple DLD sections with decreasing gap sizes.

Conclusions:

• The proposed multi-section cascade DLD approach offers a scalable solution for particle size fractionation.
• The robust model enables informed design decisions for optimizing DLD devices for wearable IoT applications.