One-Dimensional Transportation of Particles Using an Ultrasonic Standing Wave

T e r q u k i Kozuka, Toru Tuziuti cind Hidero Mitome

National Indnstnal Rescarch Institute of S a g o y
,Agency of Indiistrial Science and Technolog!, 1111'1
1-1 €[irate-cho,Lki-ku, Nagoya 162, Japan

Toslzio Fukudu
Department of Xlicro S! stein Ilngineenng, Nagoj a I ' i i v e r s i t j
Furo-cho, ('hikusa-ku, S a g o y a 4.64 0 1 , Japan

Abstract: One-dimensional transportation of particles ming
acoustic radiation pressure in water is studied to debelop non-
contact micromanipulation technique. The radiation pressure
traps particles suspended in water e v e q half wavelength in a
standing wave field and forms agglomeration. It is hard to
control the position of agglomerated particles using an ordinary
plane transducer, because the trapping points spread in a plane
and a r c sensitive to slight change of the sound field. Using a
concave transducer to generate focused ultrasound and placing
without contact.' .\ltliough tius f'orct. is \veal<, convergciict.
of' ultrasound generates intense force acting In a niicro
region -I :\ resonant sIaiiding a.avc f'ielti bet\vceI1 traiisdncer
and a rellector also generates strong and stable lorce Iicld
distnbutcd ever) half' \rawlength licnce this force ma! tw
applied t o c 1e a n and n o n - coiit a c t 1x1 ic roni ii ni pnl a t i o n
teclmquc .5-7
I _

1he authors are studying various phenomena related t(:

a reflector at the focal point, the particles are agglomerated
one-dimensionallj along the sound beam axis in the standing aconstic radiation p r e s s u r e 5 , x The! showed that
w a t e field. Changing freyuencl from IMHz to X MHz, the agglomeration of particles suspendcd i n water w c i - c
t r a p p e d a l u m i n a p a r t i c l e s of 16 , u m in d i a m e t e r w e r e controlled using ultrasonic standing a w e ficld Thc prewnt
transported for 1.83 mm i n maximum along the beam axis. paper describes a method to control poqitions 01. trapptd
Since the displacement is a result of accumulation of changes in
particles oiie-dinieiisio~iall! using acoustic radiation preswrc
t h e a g g l o m e r a t i o n i n t e r x a l d e t e r m i n e d by t h e a c o u s t i c
walelength, it depends on the location and larger displacement i n w a t e r T h i s method is possible t o rcaliTc snbniicron
is a t t a i n e d a t a f a r t h e r d i s t a n c e from t h e reflector. T h e resolution and selection of' transporting direction
resolution of t r a n s p o r t a t i o n d e p e n d s o n t h e f r e q u e n c j
increment a n d s u b m i c r o n displacement is possible using 2. DYNAMIC ACTION OF ULTRASOUND
sufficiently small frequency steps. The experiments showed that
t h e d i r e c t i o n of t r a n s p o r t a t i o n w a s controlled using a n
appropriate frequency increment. 2.1 Force Due to Acoustic Radiation Pressure
Propagauon of ultrasound in a fluid is a flow of' sound
1. INTRODUCTION energ). I f an object is placed t o interrupt i t . the object
disturbs the nnif onnit! ot the sound energ! i'ield and receives
Non-contact manipulation technique is needed to acoustic radiation pressure t o he pushed i n the direction ol
de\ elop microinachmes T h s technique is fnndamental and sound propagation (F'ig 1 ) The lorce duc t o acoustic
ill be applied t o inany fields such as manipulation of cell radiatioli pi-cssure actliig on a sphere with radius N piit i n ii
and blood coiistituents 111 biotechnolog!,. and line powder i n field of sound energ! densit) E i s given b\. '
inatenal cugmxniig Since friction ou a surface of matenal
and i ~ s c o s i t yof' a fluid play iniportant roles i n a micro F = X~I'EV,
region, simple reduction in s i x of conventional mechanisms
ina j cause senotis problems. .\Ithough particle trapping or
handling technique using electrostatic forcei and radiation
pressure o f laser light' has k e n investigated so far, there still
Object
remains some prohlems prevention o f electrol! a i 5 a t Ultrasound
clcctrodes, difficulties due to transniission and refractioii of
light, magnitiidc of force, etc 'l'hs paper proposes altemati\.e $1 I I i I I I I I I I I I I I I
non-contact manipulation technique using radiation presstire
of ultrasound
If ultrasound traveling i n a fluid is interrupted b] a n
object, force t o push the object is generated in h e direction
of the sound propagation. This is called acoustic radiation
pressure and the forcc due t o it can be applied to an object

Sixth International Symposium on

Micro Machine and Human Science
0-7803-2676-8/95 $4.00 c 1995 IEEE 1 i9
k';) is ii complicated function depciiding on the charactenstics Amplitude of
sound pressure A '2
of' material and k u (=?xu A) where A
i s acoiistic
\ \ a \ clength in thc niethum Y,, approaches unity if ku is intich
larger thaii unit) and all the effects due to sound diffraction
froni the sphere, triinsinission in the sphere, elastic vihration b
+-
of the sphere a n d \tanding fi a v e between the sphere a n d
transdiicer arc neglected According t o S y b ~ r gthe , ~ force
-
-W
U
a,

due t o radiiitioii pressure lor a sinall sphere whose radius is

riiuch snialler thaii the wa\elength (/tu<( 1) is as follons

where V(=(4 . < ) x u 3 )I S the \olunie ol'sniall sphere, <K,> aiid

.:-P,,> are time-avcragec! kinetic and potential energ!,
I-espectivcl> 6: i.; represented a\

where p and p are denhities of the iiiediiiiii aiid the sphere,

respecti\ el!,. D takes a complicated lonn including ku and
the ratio of densibes, but i t can be iieglected I'or a standing
w i i \ e t'ield because i t i s important on14 if <K,> aiid <I'(,>
distribute alinost unif'orinlj . U'hen compressibility o f tlie
sinall sphere IS take11 into consickration, tlie force F is given
a s lollow s ['I:
I'

I\here y =,8 ,8 and ,8 and p arc compressibilities of the

and the sphere, respecti\ el!
inecliiim
bor a case of one-dimensional standing ivave field
generated h! interference ot t b v o plain M aves of aniplitucle A
m d angular Irequenc! o 111 a irtedium with sound speed co,
sound pressure p is expressed as follo~.s.

l.I(i.4. S c h l i e r r n i m a g e 01 a f o c u s e d s o u n d f i e l d generaced h\, ii

! hcn 1 ,q (4) I \ rearranged a\ coned\ e ~ j ) h r i - i c . i !t t a n s d o c e r

which means that the force due t o radiation pressure changes

i n ii clcle of' halt \va\ elength 'I'ake~chict ( I / I shotved, 011
the basis of this equation. that a sphere is trapped at nodes o f
the sorind pressure distribution when B+( 1 y )>O, ~ . I u l eill
~
~

;intinotie\ a hcii H+( ! y ) C O (ieiierally, s o l i d particles

\uspended 111 liquid arc p > p ,B < p (I aiid U+( 1 - y )>O
!'hen the Ixirficlc5 are trapped at n o d e s ot sound pressure
LL,
a
Power

Function

dis!r~butio~i gciicrated e\.erj. half wavelength a s shown i n

t lg2
2.2 Focused Sound Field
Since acoustic radiation force is governed by the
distribution of sound field, the range of action of radiation 7 -7

force can be controlled through sound field. Ultrasound is

easily converged using a concave spherical transducer or an
acoustic lens. Figure 3 shows a schematic diagram of
focusing of ultrasound using a concave transducer where a is
radius of the transducer and + i s radius of curvature. The
sound field is very intense at a narrow region near the center
of curvature (focal point). The sound pressure distributes
concentrically at the focal point in the plane perpendicular to
0

.'
.

0 0

0
the sound beam axis. The diameter of the first nodal circle ld
in the focal plain is given by:

1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2 2.4 2.6

(7) Frequency [MHz]

and 84% of total acoustic power passes through this narrow F1G.G. Frequency characteristics of the plain-type transducer.
region.12 Hence, if the focal length of a transducer is the
same order as radius of the transducer, most of the sound
energy is concentrated in a narrow region of the order of
wavelength and selective action of acoustic radiation force is
realized using lugh-frequency ultrasound. Figure 4 shows an
optically visualized sound field of a concave spherical
transducer of 20 mm in dameter and 5.6 MHz in frequency
using a schlieren system.

3. EXPERIMENTS

3.1 Trapping of Particles in a Standing Wave Field

Figure 5 shows a setup of experimental apparatus for
trapping of particles in a standing wave field. The transducer
is a piezoelectric ceramic plane disk of 20 mm in diameter. It
was set in a transparent water bath and transmitted 1.75 MHz
ultrasound. The wavelength is about 0.86 mm in water.
FIG.7. Alumina particles trapped in an ultrasonic standing wave field.
Figure 6 shows frequency characteristics measured at 20, 40
and 60 mm from the transducer in a traveling wave field. A
reflector made of a ceramic plate was set at 30 mm apart
from the transducer to generate a standing wave field.
Alumina suspension of 16 ,Um in mean diameter was poured
with a pipette into the standing wave field and behavior of
particles was observed.
Figure 7 shows trapped and agglomerated alumina
particles. Trapping is observed every half wavelength but it
occurs not only along the sound beam axis but also at several
points around it. Figure 8 shows an optically visualized
sound field. An intense standing wave field spreads over a
wide range around the beam axis and particle-trapping points
are distributed there. When the frequency was changed
slightly from the resonance, the distribution of trapped
particles was shifted laterally as shown in Fig. 9. Changes in
frequency alter the wavelength and the distribution of stable
points for trapping. The particles change their positions to FIG.8. S c h l i e r e n i m a g e o f t h e u l t r a s o n i c s t a n d i n g w a v e f i e l d
new stable positions under the new frequency. generated by the plain-type transducer,

181
3.2 Transportation Using a Focused Standing Wave Field
As shown in Fig. 9, it is hard to control the position of
agglomerated particles using an ordinary plane-type
transducer, because the sound field is so sensitive to slight
change of frequency. Standing wave field is also established
using a concave transducer and placing a reflector at the
focal point. Although the intense sound field to trap particles
is limited to narrow region near the focal point as expected
from the visualized distribution in Fig. 4, particles were
agglomerated one-dimensionally along the sound beam axis.
The transducer was the same concave spherical one as that
used in Fig. 4. Figure 10 shows frequency characteristics
measured at 20, 40(focal point) and 60 mm from the
transducer along the beam axis. The sound pressure is very
large at the focal point. Figure 11 shows a schlieren image of (a) 1.745MH1. (b) 1.746MHz
focused standing wave field generated between the FIG.9. Shift of trapped particles when the frequency has changed.
transducer and reflector set at the focal point.
When alumina suspension was poured with a pipette
into the sound field, the particles were trapped and
agglomerated along the beam axis near the reflector.
Changing frequency alters the wavelength and interval of
agglomeration. Then one-dimensional transportation of
trapped particles will be realized in the axial direction, since
the trapping region is distributed axially and stably in the
present setup. Figure 12 is experimental results showing
displacements of agglomerated particles when the frequency
changed from 4.00 MHz to 8.00 MHz with step of 0.01
MHz. nstance between agglomerated particles varied as the
frequency changed. The upper particles near the reflector did
not move so much, while the lower ones far from the
reflector were transported much longer distance.

4. DISCUSSION
FIG. 10. Frequency characteristics of the concave spherical transducer.
4.1 Displacement and Resolution
The distance of transportation can be estimated as
follows. The distance of the n-th agglomerated particles from
the reflector is given by
1, = ( 2 n - l ) A / 4
= (2n - l)c, 14f ,

where f is frequency. When the frequency changes from f to

AA, or
f + Af , the n-th particle is transported from ln@ to lnf+

A'n = 'n (f)- 1, (f+ 4 f )

= (2n - l)c0Af/4f(f+ Af). (9)

The transporting distance A1, increases with n. If A f is

much less than f, A 1, is proportional to Af and inversely
proportional to the square off. FIG. 11. Schlieren i m a g e of a n ultrasonic standing wave field
In the present experiment, the distance between generated by the concave spherical transducer.

182
agglomerated particles varied from 188 ,um to 94 ,um as the
frequency changed from 4.00 MHz to 8.00 MHz.
Transporting &stance is the summation of thts variation up to
the interested particle and becomes larger at a farther
distance from the focal point (or, at a nearer distance from
the transducer). The trapping force gets weaker as departing
from the focal point. The farthest particle from the focal
point trapped in the present experiment was n=20, and it was
transported about 1.83 mm in distance for the frequency
changes from 4.00 h/Mz to 8.00 MHz. The variation of the
distance between agglomerated particles for frequency
change of A& 0.01 MHz is 0.37 ,um to 0.12 p m ,and the
resolution of transporting &stance at t h s point is about 9.1
,um to 2.3 p m . Therefore the resolution of transportation to
the order of submicron can be achieved by reducing the
frequency increment.
4.2 Direction of Transportation
The easiest way to reverse the direction of
transportation is to change the sign of frequency increment;
increasing frequency with positive frequency step gives
nearer location from the focal point and decreasing frequency
with negative step gives farther location. These h n d s of
transportation hold when the frequency step is sufficiently

Af=O.O? MHz AfiO.05 MHz AJ=O. 10 MHz AfiO.20 MHz

FIG.13. Changes of nodal poiuts of sound pressure a n d trapped particles a s frequency increases f r o m 5.00 MHz to 6.00 MHz with
respenctive frequency increments. The horizontal lines are nodal points and open circles are locations of trapped particles.

183
small so that the displacement is smaller than the half of
agglomeration interval. All the trapped particles move
toward the same direction in these cases.
Changing the value of frequency increment Af may
alter the direction of transportation for some part of the
agglomerated column and separate it Figure 13 shows
theoretical stable positions of particles calculated for
frequency changes from 5.00 MHZ to 6.00 MHz with various
frequency increments. The horizontal lines show nodes of
sound pressure, to which the particles are attracted. The open
circles show positions of particles which have been trapped
at all nodes of 5.00 MHz standing wave field initially. When
the frequency increment Af is 0.02 M H z and 0.05 M H z , all
the particles in the figure move toward the reflector. But, if
Afi0.10 MHz, the 26th and the latter particles from the
reflector move in the opposite direction arising separation of
the column. When AF0.20 MHz, the separation occnrs at
(a) Af=0.05 MHz
the 13th particle. F i p r e 14 are experimental results showing
occurrence of separation of column for various frequency
increments.
The direction of transportation is determined by
relation between the displacement due to frequency change
and the agglomeration interval. If the displacement of n-th
particle caused by the frequency change of Af, which is
given by Eq. (9) and depends on n, is larger than the half of
agglomeration interval at the new frequency, the nearest
stable point is not the n-th node but the (n+l)-th node and the
particle moves in the direction opposite to the former
particles. Since the agglomeration interval is given by the
half wavelength, a condition for the n-th particle to move
toward the reflector is

Af < f /(2n- 1) ,
where A' is the wavelength corresponding to the new
frequency f+ Af: This t e c h q u e makes it possible to pick up
a certain particle trapped in the column selectively.

5. CONCLUSIONS

Trapping of alumina particles suspended in water and

controlling their positions were tried using acoustic radiation
pressure in an ultrasonic standing wave field. Particles were
trapped every half wavelength at the nodal points of sound
pressure and columns of particles was formed in the direction
of the sound beam axis. Although the trapping force
distributed over a wide range in front of the transducer and
were unstable for the frequency changes using an ordinary (c) A& 0.20 MHz

plane-type disk transducer, a standing wave field generated

using a concave spherical transducer and a reflector placed at FIG.14. Separation of an agglomeration column depending on the
frequency increment.

184
the focal point made it possible to trap particles one-
dimensionally along the sound beam axis. The trapped
particles were transported by changing the ultrasonic
frequency. The resolution of transportation was estimated to
be possible up to submicron order by reducing the frequency
increment. It was also shown that the column of trapped
particles were separated and transported oppositely by using
an appropriate value of frequency increment. T h s non-
contact manipulation technique suggested possibility of
selective one-dimensional transportation of particles with
submicron resolution.
REFERENCES
[11 T. Watanabe, "Electrostatic Agglomeration of Submicron
Particles," Proc. Inst. Electrostatics Jpn., 16 (1991) pp.483-
492 [in Japanese].
[2] A. Ashkin, "Acceleration and Trapping of Particles by
Radiation Pressure," Phys. Rev. Lett., Vo1.24 (1970) pp.156-
159.
[3] K. Negishi and K. Takagi, Tyoonpa Gijutsu, (Tokyo
Univ. Press, Tokyo, 1984) pp.59-69 [in Japanese].
141 T. Tuziuti, T. Kozuka and H. Mitome, Abstr. Spring
Meet. Acoustical Society of Japan, Chiba, March (1994)
pp.lO1l-1012 [in Japanese].
[5] T. Kozuka, T . Tuziuti and H. Mitome, "Acoustic
185
Manipulation of Micro Objects Using an Ultrasonic
Standing Wave," 5th Int. Sympo. Micro Machine 62 Human
Science Proc. (1994) pp.83-87.
[6] M. Takeuchi, H. Abe and K. Yamanouchi, "Ultrasonic
Mcromanipulation of Small Particles in Liquid Using VHF-
Range Leaky Wave Transducers," 1994 IEEE Ultrasonics
Symposium Proceedings, (1994) pp.607-610.
171 K. Yasuda, S. Umemura and K. Takeda, "Concentration
and Fractionation of Small Particles i n Liquid by
Ultrasound," Jpn. J. Appl. Phys., Vo1.34 (1995) pp.2715-
2720.
[SI H. Mitome, T. Kozuka, T. Tuziuti, "Effects of
Nonlinearity in Development of Acoustic Streaming,"Jpn. J.
-4ppl. Phys., Vo1.34 (1995) pp.2284-2589.
[9] W. L. Nyborg, "Radiation Pressure on a Small Rigid
Sphere," J. Acoust. Soc. Am., Vo1.42 (1967) pp.947-952.
[IO] L. P. Gor'kov, "On the Forces Acting on a Small Particle
in an Acoustical Field in an Ideal Fluid," Sov. Phys. -
Doklady, Vo1.6 (1962) pp.773-775.
[ll] M. Takeuchi and K. Yamanouchi, "On the shape effect
of wave beam in ultrasonic micromanipulation," Tech. Rep.
271th Meet. Acoustic Engineering, Tohoku Univ., 271-3
(1 994) [in Japanese].
[12] J. Saneyoshi, Y. Kikuchi and 0. Nomoto, Tyoonpa
Gijutsu Binran (Ultrasonics Handbook), (Nikkan Kogyo
Shnbun-Sha, Tokyo, 1978) pp. 166-174 [in Japanese].