Abstract
The paper presents a single-heater microfluid injector, whose ejected droplet volume is adjusted by digital current path control for a single microheater. The previous droplet volume adjustable methods have used the digital current control for multiple heaters or the analog current control for a single heater, while the present method uses the digital current control for a single microheater. Two different microinjectors, having a rectangular heater and a circular hearter, are designed and fabricated in the chip area of $7.64\;mm{\times}5.26\;mm$. The fabricated microinjectors have been tested and characterized for the number, size, shape and lifetime of the generated bubbles as well as for the volume and velocity of the ejected droplets. The input power for the rectangular heater and the circular heater has been varied in the ranges of $8.7{\sim}24.9{\mu}W\;and\;8.1{\sim}43.8{\mu}W$, respectively. The projected area of the generated bubble has been changed in the ranges of $440{\sim}l,3600{\mu}m^2\;and\;800{\sim}3,300{\mu}m^2$ for the rectangular heater and the circular heater, respectively. The microinjector with the rectangular heater ejects three discrete levels of the droplet in the volume range of $9.4{\sim}20.7pl$ with the velocity range of $0.8{\sim}1.7m/s$, while the microinjector with the circular heater achieves five discrete levels of the droplet in the volume range of $7.4{\sim}27.4pl$ with the velocity range of $0.5{\sim}2.8m/s$.
