Automatic alignment system device of micro–nanofluid control chip and its application

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study is to provide a micro-nano chip automatic alignment system. Used for micron and nanometer channel alignment of microfluidic chip. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, combined with the reconstructed micro–nanoscale Hough transform theory, a “clamp–adsorb–rotate” chip alignment method is proposed. The designed alignment system includes a microscopic identification device, a clamping device and a suction device. After assembly, the straightness of the linear slide rail in the horizontal and vertical directions was tested, respectively. The results show that in the horizontal and vertical directions, the linearity error of the linear slide is +0.29 and 0.30 µm, respectively, which meets the requirement of chip alignment accuracy of 15 µm. In the direction of rotation, the angular error between the microchannel and the nanochannel is ±0.5°. In addition, an alignment flow experiment of the chip is designed. The results demonstrate that the closer the angle between the microchannel and the nanochannel is to 90°, the fluid fills the entire channel. Compared with the conventional method, the method and the assembly system realize fully automatic double-layer chip alignment. Findings A mechanical device designed by Hough transform theory can realize microfluidic chip alignment at nanometer and micron level. Originality/value The automatic alignment device adopts Hough transform principle and can be used for microfluidic chip alignment.