Observing squeeze flow in nanometer-sized gap using fluorescent images of quantum dots

Abstract

With the development of microfabrication and surface processing technologies, gap between two solid surfaces in Micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS) and Micro total analysis system (μTAS) becomes microgap to nanogap. For designing the devices and verifying the principle of MEMS and μTAS, experimental method to measure flow distribution of fluid confined in nanogap is required. In this study, we aim to realize the measurement of the flow distribution of squeezed flow in the nanogap using fluorescence images of nanoparticles. We evaluated the validity of our experimental method by comparing our experimental results with the theoretical results and clarified the size of nanogap that can be measured using our method.