Clark J.
Zebra Technologies, US
Keywords: drive waveform, drop formation, drop-on-demand, fluid microdispenser, ink jet printing
Piezoelectric micropipettes, a type of drop -on-demand ink jet microdispenser, are typically driven by repetitively pulsed waveforms to cause fluid ejection through a small orifice. To study the effect of drive waveform shape on drop ejection from these microdispensers, an arbitrary waveform generator was incorporated into a drop ejection visualization system. Among the drive waveforms investigated were several simple mathematical shapes, such as rectangular, trapezoidal, rectified and damped sine, and various waveform shapes defined by symmetric and asymmetric distribution functions, including Gaussian, Lorentzian, logistic, lognormal, Maxwell and Rayleigh distributions. Some of these waveforms are useful for extending the drop volume range over which satellite- free drop formation can be achieved.
Journal: TechConnect Briefs
Volume: 3, Nanotechnology 2009: Biofuels, Renewable Energy, Coatings, Fluidics and Compact Modeling
Published: May 3, 2009
Pages: 494 - 497
Industry sectors: Advanced Materials & Manufacturing | Sensors, MEMS, Electronics
Topic: Micro & Bio Fluidics, Lab-on-Chip
ISBN: 978-1-4398-1784-1