Microparticle Acoustophoresis in Aluminum-Based Acoustofluidic Devices with PDMS Covers

We present a numerical model for the recently introduced simple and inexpensive micromachined aluminum devices with a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) cover for microparticle acoustophoresis. We validate the model experimentally for a basic design, where a microchannel is milled into the surface of an aluminum substrate, sealed with a PDMS cover, and driven at MHz frequencies by a piezoelectric lead-zirconate-titanate (PZT) transducer. Both experimentally and numerically we find that the soft PDMS cover suppresses the Rayleigh streaming rolls in the bulk. However, due to the low transverse speed of sound in PDMS, such devices are prone to exhibit acoustic streaming vortices in the corners with a relatively large velocity. We predict numerically that in devices, where the microchannel is milled all the way through the aluminum substrate and sealed with a PDMS cover on both the top and bottom, the Rayleigh streaming is suppressed in the bulk thus enabling focusing of sub-micrometer-sized particles.

An unexpected balance between outer Rayleigh streaming sources

Acoustic streaming generated by a plane standing wave between two infinite plates or inside a cylindrical tube is considered, under the isentropic flow assumption. A two-dimensional analysis is performed in the linear case of slow streaming motion, based on analytical formal solutions of separate problems, each associated with a specific source term (Reynolds stress term). In order to obtain these analytical solutions, a necessary geometrical hypothesis is that $(R/L)^{2}\ll 1$, where $R$ and $L$ are the guide half-width (or radius) and length. The effect of the two source terms classically taken into account is quantified in order to derive the dependence of the maximum axial streaming velocity on the axis as a function of the ratio $R/\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FF}_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D708}}$, where $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FF}_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D708}}$ is the acoustic boundary layer thickness. The effect of two other source terms that are usually neglected, is then analysed. It is found that one of these terms can generate a counter-rotating streaming flow. While negligible for very narrow guides, this term can become important for some values of the aspect ratio $L/R$.