# Difference between revisions of "Hydrodynamic metamaterials: Microfabricated arrays to steer, refract and focus streams of biomaterials"

Original entry: Warren Lloyd Ung, APPHY 225, Fall 2009

"Hydrodynamic metamaterials: Microfabricated arrays to steer, refractt, and focus streams of biomaterials"
Keith J. Morton, Kevin Loutherback, David W. Inglis, Ophelia K. Tsui, James C. Sturm, Stephen Y. Chou, and Robert H. Austin.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

## Soft Matter Keywords

Hydrodynamic metamaterials, microfluidics, biomaterials, separation

Figure 1: Hydrodynamic metamaterial: an asymmetric array of posts (A) schematic and (B) fluoresecne image of a particle larger than the critical size (red) and smaller than the critical size (green).
Figure 2: Focusing of flowing particles: (A) The analogous case for light is an axicon lens, which focuses light to a line, (B) Schematic of the different regions of distinct metamaterials, (C) Micrograph of the distinct metamaterial regions, (D) fluorescence image showing particle focusing by this geometry of posts.
Figure 3

## Summary

Hydrodynamic metamaterials are microfabricated structures that have can be used to manipulate particles to flow along particular paths. In many ways, they are analogous to traditional optical materials, except rather than modifying the propagation of electromagnetic light waves, these metamaterials modify the propagation of particles through a microfluidic channel.

The hydrodynamic metamaterial discussed in here is an asymmetric array of posts. The asymmetry arises, because each subsequent column of posts is vertically offset from the previous column by a small distance. As a result, the rows of posts are at an angle, $\alpha$, relative to the direction of flow (Figure 1). Small particles and molecules follow the streamlines of fluid through the channel, and as such, they simply follow the direction of bulk fluid flow through the channel, while moving around any posts in their way. On the other hand, particles larger than some critical size cannot do the same, they cannot fully move around the posts, so each time they encounter a new post, they are diverted around it. The large particles thus follow the asymmetry of the channel, and propagate at the angle $\alpha$ relative to the flow direction.

This ability to segregate particles according to their sizes can be compared with the ability of birefringent crystals to separate different polarizations of light in space. These metamaterials offer exquisite control over the flow direction of particles in solution. By putting metamaterials with different parameters next to one another, it is possible to create devices to control the direction, along which particles of different sizes move. The authors showcase a range of possible applications applications for these simple microstructures, each time demonstrating its analogy in optics.