Claims
- 1. An apparatus for maskless mesoscale material deposition of liquids or liquid particle suspensions in patterns on a target, said apparatus comprising:
a. a first module, which provides aerosolization of a liquid; b. a second module, comprising a flowhead, a virtual impactor, a heating assembly, and a shutter; c. a control module for automated control and monitoring of process parameters; d. a laser delivery module, comprising a processing laser, a mechanical shutter, an acousto-optic modulator, one or more delivery optics, and a focusing head; e. a motion control module, comprising a motion control card, an I/O interface, a set of X-Y linear stages, a Z-axis, and one or more amplifiers; and f. a computer-controlled platen.
- 2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said first module aerosolizes a liquid selected from one or more of molecular precursors and particle suspensions.
- 3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein said first module comprises one or more means selected from the group consisting of ultrasonic transducers and pneumatic nebulizers.
- 4. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein said first module delivers aerosolized mist to the flowhead in said second module using a carrier gas.
- 5. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein said second module focuses said liquid into an aerosol stream for depositing aerosol droplets or particles, wherein said virtual impactor acts to reduce a carrier gas flowrate, wherein said heating assembly evaporates solvents to modify fluid properties of an aerosol stream, and wherein said shutter interrupts flow of material to said target for patterning.
- 6. The apparatus as claimed in claim 5, wherein said aerosol stream enters said flowhead and is initially collimated by passing through an orifice.
- 7. The apparatus as claimed in claim 5, wherein said aerosol stream emerges with droplets and/or particles and is contained by an annular sheath gas.
- 8. The apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein said sheath gas comprises one or more of a compressed air and an inert gas.
- 9. The apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein one or both of the compressed air and inert gas transports a solvent vapor.
- 10. The apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein said sheath gas enters through multiple ports below multiple aerosol ports and forms a co-axial flow between said aerosol stream and said sheath gas stream.
- 11. The apparatus as claimed in claim 10, wherein said sheath gas forms a boundary layer that prevents particles from depositing onto an orifice wall.
- 12. The apparatus as claimed in claim 10, wherein said co-axial flow exits said flowhead through a nozzle directed at the target.
- 13. The apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein a mass throughput of said aerosolized mist is controlled by an aerosol carrier gas flowrate.
- 14. The apparatus as claimed in claim 13, wherein a cylindrical chamber containing a single or multi-stage virtual impactor reduces said carrier gas flowrate.
- 15. The apparatus as claimed in claim 14, wherein each stage comprises a disk-shaped insert with a cylindrical chamber opened at each end.
- 16. The apparatus as claimed in claim 15, wherein said aerosol stream flows through said chamber co-axial to a cylinder axis.
- 17. The apparatus as claimed in claim 16, wherein an exit orifice of said chamber tapers to a diameter that is smaller than an entrance orifice and opens to an area enclosed by a larger cylinder.
- 18. The apparatus as claimed in claim 17, wherein said exit orifice of a first stage and said entrance orifice of a second stage are connected to ambient conditions through a plurality of port holes in said cylinder wall.
- 19. The apparatus as claimed in claim 18, wherein reduced pressure at said ports causes a controlled amount of carrier gas to be removed from said flow, thus reducing said flowrate as it enters a next stage.
- 20. The apparatus as claimed in claim 19, wherein concentration of said aerosolized mist is accomplished by removal of said carrier gas.
- 21. The apparatus as claimed in claim 5, wherein said heating assembly evaporates one or more of a precursor solvent and additives and a particle-suspending medium.
- 22. The apparatus as claimed in claim 5, wherein said shutter is placed between said flowhead orifice and said target.
- 23. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said process parameters for said control module comprise one or more of aerosol and sheath gas flowrates, preheat temperature, and substrate temperature.
- 24. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said laser delivery module uses said mechanical shutter to rapidly turn said laser on and off in coordination with said motion control module, wherein said acousto-optic modulator is used for rapid dynamic power control, and wherein said delivery optics comprises an optical fiber and associated launch optics or mirrors.
- 25. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the patterning is created by attaching the target to said computer-controlled platen.
- 26. The apparatus as claimed in claim 25, wherein a target temperature control is used to change the target's temperature.
- 27. The apparatus as claimed in claim 25, wherein the patterning is created by translating said flowhead under computer control while performing one or both of maintaining the target in a fixed position and translating the target under computer control while maintaining said flowhead in a fixed position.
- 28. The apparatus as claimed in claim 27, wherein a feature of the patterning is in a range from about 10 microns to as large as several millimeters.
- 29. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the target comprises a biocompatible substrate.
- 30. An apparatus for maskless mesoscale material deposition of liquids and liquid particle suspensions in patterns on a target, said apparatus comprising:
a. a first module, comprising means for aerosolizing a liquid or particle suspension; b. a second module, comprising a flowhead, a heating assembly, and a shutter; c. a control module for automated control and monitoring of process parameters; d. a motion control module, comprising a motion control card, an I/O interface, a set of X-Y linear stages, a Z-axis, and one or more amplifiers; and e. a computer-controlled platen.
- 31. The apparatus as claimed in claim 30, wherein said apparatus additionally comprises a laser delivery module, comprising a processing laser, a mechanical shutter, an acousto-optic modulator, one or more delivery optics, and a focusing head.
- 32. The apparatus as claimed in claim 30, wherein said apparatus additionally comprises a virtual impactor comprising one or more stages.
- 33. A method for maskless mesoscale material deposition of liquids and liquid particle suspensions in patterns on a target, the method comprising:
a. focusing an aerosol stream comprising a solution; b. depositing said aerosol stream in a pattern onto a planar or non-planar substrate without use of masks; and c. processing said substrate either or both of thermally and photochemically to achieve either or both of physical and electrical properties near that of a bulk material.
- 34. The method as claimed in claim 33, wherein said solution comprises one or more liquids selected from the groups consisting of liquid molecular precursors and particle suspensions.
- 35. The method as claimed in claim 34, wherein said solution is atomized using one or more of an ultrasonic transducer and a pneumatic nebulizer.
- 36. The method as claimed in claim 35, wherein ultrasonic aerosolized solutions have viscosities of 1-10 cP.
- 37. The method as claimed in claim 35, wherein ultrasonic aerosolization is used for particle suspensions comprising either or both of high-density nanometer-sized particles ranging from 4 to 21 g/cm3 and low-density micron-sized particles on the order of 2 g/cm3 or less.
- 38. The method as claimed in claim 33, wherein said aerosol stream includes biological materials selected from the group consisting of functional catalytic peptides, extracellular matrix and fluorescent proteins, enzymes, and oligonucleotides.
- 39. The method as claimed in claim 33, wherein said aerosol stream is delivered to a deposition head via a carrier gas.
- 40. The method as claimed in claim 39, wherein said carrier gas comprises one or both of a compressed air and an inert gas.
- 41. The method as claimed in claim 40, wherein one or both of the compressed air and inert gas comprises a solvent vapor.
- 42. The method as claimed in claim 40, wherein either or both of a humidification process of said carrier gas and an annular sheath gas is used to prevent the drying of said aerosol stream.
- 43. The method as claimed in claim 42, wherein said humidification process is accomplished by introducing one or more of aerosolized water droplets and water vapor into the carrier gas flow.
- 44. The method as claimed in claim 33, wherein a heating assembly is used to evaporate one or more of a solvent and additives and said particle suspensions.
- 45. The method as claimed in claim 44, wherein said evaporation modifies fluid properties of said aerosol stream.
- 46. The method as claimed in claim 45, wherein partial evaporation of said solvent increases viscosity and allows for greater control of a lateral spreading of resulting deposited fluid.
- 47. The method as claimed in claim 33, wherein a mass throughput of an aerosolized mist is controlled by an aerosol carrier gas flowrate.
- 48. The method as claimed in claim 47, wherein a cylindrical chamber containing a single or multi-stage virtual impactor reduces said aerosol carrier gas flowrate.
- 49. The method as claimed in claim 48, wherein said aerosol stream flows through each stage of said cylindrical chamber co-axial to a cylinder axis.
- 50. The method as claimed in claim 49, wherein an exit orifice of said chamber tapers to a diameter that is smaller than an entrance orifice and opens to an area enclosed by a larger cylinder.
- 51. The method as claimed in claim 50, wherein said exit orifice of a first stage and said entrance orifice of a second stage are connected to ambient conditions through a plurality of port holes in said cylinder wall.
- 52. The method as claimed in claim 50, wherein reduced pressure at said ports causes a controlled amount of carrier gas to be removed from said flow, thus reducing said flowrate as it enters a next stage.
- 53. The method as claimed in claim 52, wherein concentration of said aerosolized mist is accomplished by partial removal of said carrier gas.
- 54. The method as claimed in claim 47, wherein said process is repeated at said subsequent stages.
- 55. The method as claimed in claim 33, wherein said aerosol stream is initially collimated by passing through an orifice.
- 56. The method as claimed in claim 55, wherein said aerosol stream emerges with one or both of droplets and particles and is contained by a sheath gas.
- 57. The method as claimed in claim 56, wherein said sheath gas comprises one or both of a compressed air and an inert gas comprising water vapor content.
- 58. The method as claimed in claim 56, wherein said annular sheath gas enters through multiple ports below multiple aerosol ports and forms a co-axial flow between said aerosol stream and said sheath gas stream.
- 59. The method as claimed in claim 58, wherein said sheath gas forms a boundary layer that prevents particles from depositing onto an orifice wall.
- 60. The method as claimed in claim 58, wherein said co-axial flow exits a flowhead through a nozzle directed at the substrate.
- 61. The method as claimed in claim 60, wherein said co-axial flow is focused as small as a tenth a size of said nozzle orifice.
- 62. The method as claimed in claim 60, wherein said substrate comprises a biocompatible substrate.
- 63. The method as claimed in claim 60, wherein a shutter is placed between said nozzle orifice and said substrate to interrupt flow of materials to said substrate in order to accomplish patterning.
- 64. The method as claimed in claim 63, wherein said patterning is created by translating said flowhead under computer control while performing one or both of maintaining said substrate in a fixed position and translating said substrate under computer control while maintaining said flowhead in a fixed position.
- 65. The method as claimed in claim 64, wherein a feature of said patterning is in a range from about 10 microns to as large as several millimeters.
- 66. The method as claimed in claim 33, wherein said thermal treatment is used to process a precursor-based material in order to raise a temperature of a deposit to said deposit's decomposition or curing temperature.
- 67. The method as claimed in claim 66, wherein said thermal treatment causes a chemical decomposition or crosslinking to occur in order to change a molecular state of said precursor, resulting in a desired material plus effluents.
- 68. An apparatus for maskless mesoscale material deposition of liquids or liquid particle suspensions on a target, said apparatus comprising a flowhead, a virtual impactor, a heating assembly, and a shutter.
- 69. The apparatus as claimed in claim 68, additionally comprising a cylindrical chamber containing a single or multi-stage virtual impactor that reduces a carrier gas flowrate.
- 70. The apparatus as claimed in claim 69, wherein each stage comprises a disk-shaped insert with a cylindrical chamber opened at each end.
- 71. The apparatus as claimed in claim 70, wherein an aerosol stream flows through said chamber co-axial to a cylinder axis.
- 72. The apparatus as claimed in claim 71, wherein an exit orifice of said chamber tapers to a diameter that is smaller than an entrance orifice and opens to an area enclosed by a larger cylinder.
- 73. The apparatus as claimed in claim 72, wherein said exit orifice of a first stage and said entrance orifice of a second stage are connected to ambient conditions through a plurality of port holes in said cylinder wall.
- 74. The apparatus as claimed in claim 73, wherein reduced pressure at said ports causes a controlled amount of carrier gas to be removed from said flow, thus reducing said flowrate as it enters a next stage.
- 75. The apparatus as claimed in claim 74, wherein concentration of an aerosolized mist is accomplished by removal of said carrier gas.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part application of the following U.S. Patent Applications:
[0002] U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/574,955, entitled “Laser-Guided Manipulation of Non-Atomic Particles”, to Michael J. Renn, et al., filed on May 19, 2000, which was a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/408,621, entitled “Laser-Guided Manipulation of Non-Atomic Particles”, to Michael J. Renn, et al., filed on Sep. 30, 1999, which claimed the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/102,418, entitled “Direct-Writing of Materials by Laser Guidance”, to Michael J. Renn, et al., filed on Sep. 30, 1998;
[0003] U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/584,997, entitled “Particle Guidance System”, to Michael J. Renn, filed on Jun. 1, 2000, which was a continuation-in-part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/574,955;
[0004] U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/060,960, entitled “Direct Write™ System”, to Michael J. Renn, filed on Jan. 30, 2002, which was a continuation-in-part application of U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 09/584,997 and 09/574,955; and
[0005] U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/072,605, entitled “Direct Write™ System”, to Michael J. Renn, filed on Feb. 5, 2002, which was a continuation-in-part application of U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 09/584,997 and 09/574,955; and
[0006] the specifications thereof are incorporated herein by reference.
FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
[0007] The U.S. Government has a paid-up license in this invention and the right in limited circumstances to require the patent owner to license others on reasonable terms as provided for by the terms of Contract No. N00014-99-C-0243 awarded by the U.S. Department of Defense.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60102418 |
Sep 1998 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (5)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
10072605 |
Feb 2002 |
US |
Child |
10346935 |
Jan 2003 |
US |
Parent |
09584997 |
Jun 2000 |
US |
Child |
10072605 |
Feb 2002 |
US |
Parent |
09574955 |
May 2000 |
US |
Child |
09584997 |
Jun 2000 |
US |
Parent |
09408621 |
Sep 1999 |
US |
Child |
09574955 |
May 2000 |
US |
Parent |
10060960 |
Jan 2002 |
US |
Child |
10346935 |
Jan 2003 |
US |