Robustness and repeatability of interdigitated electrodes on a substrate tested in an aqueous environment

Interdigitated electrodes are currently being used as sensing components in microfluidic lab-on-a-chip devices. The Daktari Diagnostics system uses these electrodes to measure the change in impedance of a fluid in an assay chamber. In order to improve quality assurance, a new testing method was developed and validated to characterize the sources of potential defects in the electrodes. In the new test, the electrodes are used to measure the impedance when placed in solutions of different known conductivities. The data was used to estimate the linear relationship between the inverse of the measured impedance to the solution conductivities. The repeatability tests found an average slope of 1.438x10-5 cm/characteristic length with a standard deviation of 8.52x10 -8 cm/characteristic length. It was found that the number of defective fingers or bending the electrodes significantly changes the electrode performance with a 95% confidence interval.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2011

Author dc:creator

• Holmes, Jacklyn (Jacklyn A.)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Brian W. Anthony.

• Mechanical Engineering.

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/1721.1/69531

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/69531