Nanofluidics

News and Updates

NIST Researchers Use Cellphone Compass to Measure Tiny Concentrations of Compounds Important for Human Health

April 1, 2024

Nearly every modern cellphone has a built-in compass, or magnetometer, that detects the direction of Earth’s magnetic field, providing critical information for

The FedTech Startup Studio’s Real-World Approach Advances Technology Transfer

March 22, 2023

Technology Transfer is an intensely dynamic field, and the process of moving federal scientific and technological research from the lab to the marketplace teems

No Fib: NIST Unmasks a Superfast Process for Nanoscale Machining

August 23, 2022

Cutting intricate patterns as small as several billionths of a meter deep and wide, the focused ion beam (FIB) is an essential tool for deconstructing and

Projects and Programs

viral vector illustration with RNA seen within the capsid

Gene Delivery Particle Analysis with High-Throughput Light Scattering Microscopy

Ongoing

This project aims to develop light-scattering microscopy methods for rapid, multi-attribute characterization of gene therapy particles at the single particle level. Emerging gene therapy treatments use gene delivery particles, such as viral vectors and non-viral carriers, to cure intractable

Optimal Diffusion Coefficient Estimation in Single-Particle Tracking (Archived)

Completed

In a typical single-particle tracking experiment, optical images of diffusing particles are recorded with a CCD camera, and the series of frames obtained from the camera is analyzed to extract a trajectory. In the simplest case of free Brownian motion, the trajectory is subsequently analyzed to

Video microscopic image - Rotation and translation.

Control of Magnetic Nanoparticles for Nanoscale Manipulation of Fluids and Materials (Archived)

Completed

Low Reynolds number swimming, or motion through a viscous fluid, is a technique at which nature is adept. Bacteria, protists, and algal cells live in a regime where viscous effects dominate inertial ones. As these microscale biological swimmers move, they perturb the fluid around them, affecting

A micromechanical bulk acoustic resonator that uses phononic crystal tethers to achieve a quality factor approaching the fundamental dissipation limit (fxQ can be as large as 1.2 x 1013 Hz)

Micro- and Nanoelectromechanical Systems

Completed

MEMS/NEMS are enabling technologies that bring new functionalities with the potential to radically transform markets ranging from consumer products to national defense. The meteoric rise of the smartphone is an excellent example, in which MEMS accelerometers, gyroscopes, microphones, displays, and

Publications

Relaxation times and dynamic behavior of an optofluidic flow meter in the nanoliter per minute regime

February 29, 2024

Author(s)

Nicholas Drachman, Paul Patrone, Gregory A. Cooksey

Accuracy and temporal resolution of flow meters are often unacceptable below the microliter per minute scale, limiting their ability to evaluate the real-time

Letter to the Editor Concerning "Simultaneous, Single-Particle Measurements of Size and Loading Give Insights into the Structure of Drug-Delivery Nanoparticles"

May 23, 2023

Author(s)

Andrew Madison, Adam L. Pintar, Craig R. Copeland, Natalia Farkas, Samuel M. Stavis

Chromium Oxide – A Novel Sacrificial Layer Material for MEMS/NEMS and Micro/Nanofluidic Device Fabrication

August 1, 2022

Author(s)

Alokik Kanwal, Robert Ilic, Christopher Ray, Kerry Siebein, James Alexander Liddle

Free standing membranes for fluidic devices typically require long etching times due to the slow, diffusion limited exchange of etchant and etch products when

Optofluidic Flow Meter for sub–nanoliter per minute flow measurements

January 31, 2022

Author(s)

Jalal Sadeghi, Paul Patrone, Anthony J. Kearsley, Gregory A. Cooksey

Performance improvements in microfluidic systems depend on accurate measurement and control of fluids on the micro- and nanoscale, and new applications are