Advancements in Design and Fabrication of Miniature Devices

A special issue of Micromachines (ISSN 2072-666X). This special issue belongs to the section "D:Materials and Processing".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 March 2024) | Viewed by 5776

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Ontario Tech University, Oshawa, ON L1G 0C5, Canada
Interests: micro-manufacturing; hybrid additive-subtractive manufacturing; surface functionalization; electroforming of miniature parts
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Ontario Tech University, Oshawa, ON L1G 0C5, Canada
Interests: advanced fabrication techniques; optoelectronic miniature devices; advanced sensing materials for miniature sensors
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

With growing competitiveness in today’s fast-paced market, and ever-increasing customer expectations for higher quality products, the need for technologies that can rapidly manufacture these components at an affordable price is increasing. Such technologies must be flexible to adapt to rapidly shifting market needs, while possessing a lower environmental footprint. Hence, the technology’s capability to handle multiple materials and to fabricate multi-material devices is significant especially when it comes to fabricating compact smart devices, which are in high demand nowadays. In almost all industries, smart sensors, actuators and microchips are required, and such devices are expected to operate with higher functionality while being robust.

This Special Issue aims to cover topics related to innovations in the design and fabrication of multi-material miniature devices for multiple applications ranging from medical to optical to electronics/opto-electronics to positioning ones. The design and fabrication of microfluidic devices, including paper-based devices and wearable devices, as well as sensors, printed circuit boards and positioning systems, are topics of interest. Fabrication involves achieving the required geometry and functionality. Therefore, surface functionalization and the development of manufacturing technologies and design methods that enable the rapid and efficient fabrication of such devices or parts are also of interest to this Issue. Therefore, the three major topics that this issue covers are:

  • Design and fabrication of multi-materials systems for various applications;
  • Functionalization of surface properties of microdevices for enhanced performance;
  • Developments in manufacturing methods for fabricating special-purpose miniature systems;
  • Innovations in technology-related design methods for more efficient, faster and/or less costly fabrication.

Dr. Jana Abou-Ziki
Dr. Amirkianoosh Kiani
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • advanced miniature fabrication/design
  • miniature devices
  • paper-based devices
  • wearable devices
  • multi-material fabrication
  • surface processing
  • surface functionalization

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 12706 KiB  
Article
Advanced Fabrication of 3D Micro/Nanostructures of Gallium Oxide with a Tuned Band Gap and Optical Properties
by Nishant Singh Jamwal and Amirkianoosh Kiani
Micromachines 2024, 15(3), 347; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi15030347 - 29 Feb 2024
Viewed by 1677
Abstract
Gallium oxide (Ga2O3) is a promising material for high-power semiconductor applications due to its wide band gap and high breakdown voltage. However, the current methods for fabricating Ga2O3 nanostructures have several disadvantages, including their complex manufacturing [...] Read more.
Gallium oxide (Ga2O3) is a promising material for high-power semiconductor applications due to its wide band gap and high breakdown voltage. However, the current methods for fabricating Ga2O3 nanostructures have several disadvantages, including their complex manufacturing processes and high costs. In this study, we report a novel approach for synthesizing β-Ga2O3 nanostructures on gallium phosphide (GaP) using ultra-short laser pulses for in situ nanostructure generation (ULPING). We varied the process parameters to optimize the nanostructure formation, finding that the ULPING method produces high-quality β-Ga2O3 nanostructures with a simpler and more cost-effective process when compared with existing methods. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) were used to characterize the samples, which indicated the presence of phosphorous. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) confirmed the formation of gallium oxide, along with a minor amount of phosphorus-containing compounds. Structural analysis using X-ray diffraction (XRD) revealed the formation of a monoclinic β-polymorph of Ga2O3. We also measured the band gap of the materials using reflection electron energy loss spectroscopy (REELS), and found that the band gap increased with higher nanostructure formation, reaching 6.2 eV for the optimized sample. Furthermore, we observed a change in the heterojunction alignment, which we attribute to the change in the oxidation of the samples. Our results demonstrate the potential of ULPING as a novel, simple, and cost-effective method for fabricating Ga2O3 nanostructures with tunable optical properties. The ULPING method offers a green alternative to existing fabrication methods, making it a promising technology for future research in the field of Ga2O3 nanostructure fabrication. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancements in Design and Fabrication of Miniature Devices)
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20 pages, 7056 KiB  
Article
Design of Power Amplifiers for BDS-3 Terminal Based on InGaP/GaAs HBT MMIC and LGA Technology
by Zhenbing Li, Junjie Huang, Jinrong Zhang, Shilin Jia, Haoyang Sun, Gang Li and Guangjun Wen
Micromachines 2023, 14(11), 1995; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi14111995 - 27 Oct 2023
Viewed by 1825
Abstract
With the development and popularization of the Beidou-3 navigation satellite system (BDS-3), to ensure its unique short message function, it is necessary to integrate a radio frequency (RF) transmitting circuit with high performance in the BDS-3 terminal. As the key device in an [...] Read more.
With the development and popularization of the Beidou-3 navigation satellite system (BDS-3), to ensure its unique short message function, it is necessary to integrate a radio frequency (RF) transmitting circuit with high performance in the BDS-3 terminal. As the key device in an RF transmitting circuit, the RF power amplifier (PA) largely determines the comprehensive performance of the circuit with its transmission power, efficiency, linearity, and integration. Therefore, in this paper, an L-band highly integrated PA chip compatible with 3 W and 5 W output power is designed in InGaP/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) technology combined with temperature-insensitive adaptive bias technology, class-F harmonic suppression technology, analog pre-distortion technology, temperature-insensitive adaptive power detection technology, and land grid array (LGA) packaging technology. Additionally, three auxiliary platforms are proposed, dedicated to the simulation and optimization of the same type of PA designs. The simulation results show that at the supply voltage of 5 V and 3.5 V, the linear gain of the PA chip reaches 39.4 dB and 38.7 dB, respectively; the output power at 1 dB compression point (P1dB) reaches 37.5 dBm and 35.1 dBm, respectively; the saturated output power (Psat) reaches 38.2 dBm and 36.2 dBm, respectively; the power added efficiency (PAE) reaches 51.7% and 48.2%, respectively; and the higher harmonic suppression ratios are less than −62 dBc and −65 dBc, respectively. The size of the PA chip is only 6 × 4 × 1 mm3. The results also show that the PA chip has high gain, high efficiency, and high linearity under both output power conditions, which has obvious advantages over similar PA chip designs and can meet the short message function of the BDS-3 terminal in various application scenarios. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancements in Design and Fabrication of Miniature Devices)
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13 pages, 7242 KiB  
Article
Fabrication of µFFE Devices in COC via Hot Embossing with a 3D-Printed Master Mold
by Matthew B. LeMon, Cecilia C. Douma, Gretchen S. Burke and Michael T. Bowser
Micromachines 2023, 14(9), 1728; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi14091728 - 2 Sep 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1705
Abstract
The fabrication of high-performance microscale devices in substrates with optimal material properties while keeping costs low and maintaining the flexibility to rapidly prototype new designs remains an ongoing challenge in the microfluidics field. To this end, we have fabricated a micro free-flow electrophoresis [...] Read more.
The fabrication of high-performance microscale devices in substrates with optimal material properties while keeping costs low and maintaining the flexibility to rapidly prototype new designs remains an ongoing challenge in the microfluidics field. To this end, we have fabricated a micro free-flow electrophoresis (µFFE) device in cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) via hot embossing using a PolyJet 3D-printed master mold. A room-temperature cyclohexane vapor bath was used to clarify the device and facilitate solvent-assisted thermal bonding to fully enclose the channels. Device profiling showed 55 µm deep channels with no detectable feature degradation due to solvent exposure. Baseline separation of fluorescein, rhodamine 110, and rhodamine 123, was achieved at 150 V. Limits of detection for these fluorophores were 2 nM, 1 nM, and 10 nM, respectively, and were comparable to previously reported values for glass and 3D-printed devices. Using PolyJet 3D printing in conjunction with hot embossing, the full design cycle, from initial design to production of fully functional COC µFFE devices, could be completed in as little as 6 days without the need for specialized clean room facilities. Replicate COC µFFE devices could be produced from an existing embossing mold in as little as two hours. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancements in Design and Fabrication of Miniature Devices)
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