An integrated microfluidic chip with 40 MHz lead-free transducer for fluid analysis

Abstract

The design, fabrication, and evaluation of a high-frequency transducer made from lead-free piezoceramic for the application of microfluidic analysis is described. Barium strontium zirconate titanate [(Ba₀. ₉ ₅Sr₀. ₀ ₅)(Zr₀. ₀ ₅Ti₀.₉₅)O₃, abbreviated as BSZT] ceramic has been chosen to be the active element of the transducer. The center frequency and bandwidth of this high-frequency ultrasound transducer have been measured to be 43 MHz and 56.1%, respectively. The transducer was integrated into a microfluidic channel and used to measure the sound velocity and attenuation of the liquid flowing in the channel. Results suggest that lead-free high-frequency transducers could be used for in situ analysis of property of the fluid flowing through the microfluidic system.