Abstract
We present the design, fabrication and experimental results of 4-bit digital microinjectors, whose ejected droplet volumes are adjusted by the digital operation of a 4-bit microheater array. We design the reference microinjectors as well as its comparative test structures. In the fabrication process, we use a five-mask micromachining process and the total chip size of the fabricated microinjector is $7,640{\mu}m{\times}5,260{\mu}m.$ We measure the ejected droplet volumes and velocities, which are adjusted from $12.1{\pm}1.0~55.6{\pm}14.7pl\;and\;2.3{\pm}0.1~15.7{\pm}0.8m/s.$ respectively, depending on the 15 possible combinations of 4-bit microheater array. We also experimentally characterize the effect of geometric variation including the microheater size, inter-microheater gap, microchannel width and sequential operation of microheater array on the ejected droplet volume and velocity. Among these parameters, we find that the microheater size is the most dominant parameter affected to the ejected droplet volumes and velocities. Thus, the present microinjector has a potential for application to the high-resolution inkjet printers with multiple gray levels or high-precision fluid injectors with variable volume control.
