Unique flow transitions and particle collection switching phenomena in a microchannel induced by surface acoustic waves

We present an experimental approach for controlled switching between uniform flow for pumping and vortical flow for mixing in a microchannel fabricated onto a piezoelectric substrate. For particle laden fluids, this arrangement permits a choice between transport and alignment of microparticles. Using surface acoustic waves with amplitudes beyond 1 nm, the transition from uniform to mixing flows occurs when the acoustic wavelength in the fluid is reduced to a dimension smaller than the channel width, i.e., λf≥Wch for uniform flow and λf<Wch for mixing flow. On the other hand, using relatively weak surface acoustic waves with amplitudes below 1 nm, particles in an initially homogeneous suspension agglomerate into equally spaced lines with a separation of λf/2. Switching the transducer between its fundamental resonant frequency f0 and its first harmonic frequency f1+∼2f0 causes a switch between uniform and mixing flow, while switching between large and small amplitude excitation allows one to choose whether ...