Micro-mechanical logic for field produceable gate arrays

A paradigm of micro-mechanical gates for field produceable logic is explored. A desktop manufacturing system is sought after which is capable of printing functional logic devices in the field. A logic scheme which induces non-linearities via geometrical properties is considered. Logic devices in two-phase air-water fluid-dynamic system at micron scales are constructed. A systematic study of non-linearities and relevant force fields in fluid dynamics at low Reynolds Number is undertaken. Viscous forces dominate inertial forces at low Reynolds Number flows at low pressure. Thus devices based on non-linear inertial effects at high Reynolds numbers can not be scaled down to micron-sizes. Bubble microfluidic logic gates are invented to tackle the above problem, thus producing low Reynolds Number logic in Newtonian fluids. Various devices including AND/OR gates, NOT gate, nonvolatile bistable memory, shift registers and ON/OFF flow valves, based on this new scheme of bubble bubble interaction in microfluidic devices to induce non-linearity, are designed and characterized. On-chip bubble generators and annihilators are used for encoding and destroying information in bubble logic devices.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture. Program In Media Arts and Sciences

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2005

Author dc:creator

• Prakash, Manu

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Neil Gershenfeld.

• Architecture. Program In Media Arts and Sciences

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/34486

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/34486