A large scale X-Y positioning and localisation system of liquid droplet using SAW on LiNbO/sub 3/

Recently published works have demonstrated the interest of surface acoustic waves (SAW) for guiding and positioning small liquid droplet atop a flat surface. The application fields of such device mainly concern biochemical tools for well-controlled interaction of given bodies and small volume experimentation. In the proposed paper, the fabrication of a SAW-based X-Y stage on LiNbO/sub 3/ for positioning small liquid droplet is described. An actuation strategy to accurately control the motion and detect the position of the droplet have been developed.