George J. Roller

A Surface Micromachined Electrostatic Drop Ejector

Ejectors have applications ranging from ink-jet printing to drug delivery. A novel electrostatic ejector was surface micromachined; and satellite-free, 2 pl drops were ejected at 10 m/s using an electrostatic field (E-field) of 20 V/µm. The E-field is applied across the ejected liquid, which simplifies device design, but allows the possibility of dielectric breakdown and electrolysis in the liquid. These challenges were overcome in the prototype described herein.