| dc.description.abstract | With rapid development of the direct-write technology, in addition to requirement of non-destructive printing, there is a need for non-expensive, robust, and simplified techniques of micro/nano fabrication. This dissertation proposes a new technique of non-invasive lithography called Capillary-Based Droplet Deposition and suggests improvements to existing Aerosol-Jet Direct-Write method that leads to deposition of thinner lines.
A hollow capillary filled with liquid is a dispensing tool employed for the Capillary-Based Droplet Deposition method. Due to pressure applied from one side of the capillary, a liquid meniscus is formed at the opposite side of the capillary. After the meniscus touches the substrate, a liquid bridge between the capillary and substrate is formed. The capillary retraction causes the bridge rupturing and liquid droplet deposition. In the first part of this dissertation, the Capillary-Based Deposition method is considered both theoretically and experimentally. From bridge modeling, it is found that the droplet size is dependent on pressure applied, inner radius and wall thickness of the capillary, and liquid-capillary and liquid-substrate equilibrium contact angles. Three deposition scenarios are identified showing that minimum deposited droplet size is about 15% of the capillary inner diameter. Modeling results are verified in experiments with different water-glycerol solutions used as test liquid and with capillaries of wide range of inner diameters.
The second part of the dissertation is devoted to theoretical investigation of the Aerosol-Jet Direct-Write method where few micron width lines are created from aerosol droplets that move along with the gas flowing through a converging micro-nozzle. Gas velocity and density profiles inside and outside of the nozzle are obtained from
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ANSYS/CFX simulation. Aerosol droplet trajectories and velocity components are calculated using all forces acting on the particles in the flow. Comparing all forces, it is found that only Stokes and Saffman forces are relevant for simulation of the gas-particle interaction. Original 1D equation for Saffman force is extended to two dimensional gas flows. For some parameter ranges, Saffman force is found to be negligibly small. Based on simulation results, two nozzle designs are proposed in order to collimate aerosol particles with diameters of 1.5-5.0 microns toward the nozzle centerline. | en_US |
