• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.29 no.10 s.241
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• pp.1289-1297
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• 2005

The flow in a microchannel is usually characterized as a low Reynolds number (Re) so that good mixing is quite difficult to be achieved. In this regard, we developed a novel chaotic micromixer, named Serpentine Laminating Micromixer (SLM) in the present study, Part 1. In the SLM, the higher level of chaotic mixing can be achieved by combining two general chaotic mixing mechanisms: splitting/recombination and chaotic advection. The splitting and recombination (in other term, lamination) mechanism is obtained by the successive arrangement of 'F'-shape mixing units in two layers. The chaotic advection is induced by the overall three-dimensional serpentine path of the microchannel. Chaotic mixing performance of the SLM was fully characterized numerically. To compare the mixing performance, a T-type micromixer which has the same width, height and length of the SLM was also designed. The three-dimensional numerical mixing simulations show the superiority of the SLM over the T-type micromixer. From the cross-sectional simulation results of mixing patterns, the chaotic advection effect from the serpentine channel path design acts favorably to realize the ideal lamination of fluid flow as Re increases. Chaotic mixing mechanism, proposed in this study, could be easily integrated in Micro-Total-Analysis-System, Lab-on-a-Chip and so on.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.29 no.10 s.241
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• pp.1298-1306
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• 2005

In this paper, Part II, we realized the Serpentine Laminating Micromirer (SLM) which was proposed in the accompanying paper, Part I, by means of the injection molding process in mass production. In the SLM, the higher level of chaotic mixing can be achieved by combining two general chaotic mixing mechanisms of splitting/recombination and chaotic advection by the successive arrangement of 'F'-shape mixing units in two layers. Mold inserts for the injection molding process of the SLM were fabricated by SU-8 photolithography and nickel electroplating. The SLM was realized by injection molding of COC (cyclic olefin copolymer) with the fabricated mold inserts and thermal bonding of two injection molded COC substrates. To compare the mixing performance, a T-type micromixer was also fabricated. Mixing performances of micromixers were experimentally characterized in terms of an average mixing color intensity of a pH indicator, phenolphthalein. Experimental results show that the SLM has much better mixing performance than the I-type micromixer and chaotic mixing was successfully achieved from the SLM over the wide range of Reynolds number (Re). The chaotic micromixer, SLM proposed in this study, could be easily integrated in Micro-Total-Analysis- System , Lab-on-a-Chip and so on.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.53-67
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• 2011

Human state in human-machine systems highly affects the overall system performance, and should be detected and monitored. Physiological cues are essential indicators of human state and useful for the purpose of monitoring. The study presented in this paper was focused on developing a bio-inspired sensing system, i.e., Nano-Skin, to non-intrusively measure physiological cues on human-machine contact surfaces to detect human state. The paper is presented in three parts. The first part is to analyze the relationship between human state and physiological cues, and to introduce the conceptual design of Nano-Skin. Generally, heart rate, skin conductance, skin temperature, operating force, blood alcohol concentration, sweat rate, and electromyography are closely related with human state. They can be measured through human-machine contact surfaces using Nano-Skin. The second part is to discuss the technologies for skin temperature measurement. The third part is to introduce the design and manufacture of the Nano-Skin for skin temperature measurement. Experiments were performed to verify the performance of the Nano-Skin in temperature measurement. Overall, the study concludes that Nano-Skin is a promising product for measuring physiological cues on human-machine contact surfaces to detect human state.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.156-163
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• 2003

Polypyrrole microactuators have been fabricated by the standard surface micromachining method combined with the electropolymerization of polypyrrole. The fundamental structure to verify the feasibility of the fabrication process is polypyrrole cantilever. Based on these process, polypyrrole grippers and valves for the manipulation of the cell have been fabricated. Grippers have the structure of bone and muscle which are rigid polymers and polypyrrole, respectively. Valves have the assembled structure of channels with polypyrrole cantilevers. The proposed fabrication process and structures are expected to be used for bio-related applications, for example, the cell manipulation.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.156-161
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• 2007

This paper describes the characteristics of polycrystalline ${\beta}$ or 3C (cubic)-SiC (silicon carbide) thin films heteroepitaxailly grown on Si wafers with thermal oxide. In this work, the poly 3C-SiC film was deposited by APCVD (atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition) method using HMDS (hexamethyildisilane: $Si_{2}(CH_{3}_{6})$ single precursor. The deposition was performed under various conditions to determine the optimized growth conditions. The crystallinity of the 3C-SiC thin film was analyzed by XPS (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy), XRD (X-ray diffraction) and FT-IR (fourier transform-infrared spectometers), respectively. The surface morphology was also observed by AFM (atomic force microscopy) and voids or dislocations between SiC and $SiO_{2}$ were measured by SEM (scanning electron microscope). Finally, depth profiling was invesigated by GDS (glow discharge spectrometer) for component ratios analysis of Si and C according to the grown 3C-SiC film thickness. From these results, the grown poly 3C-SiC thin film is very good crystalline quality, surface like mirror and low defect. Therfore, the poly 3C-SiC thin film is suitable for extreme environment, Bio and RF MEMS applications in conjunction with Si micromaching.

• Current Research on Agriculture and Life Sciences
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.79-84
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• 2014

The precision aerial application of agricultural unmanned helicopters has become a new paradigm for small farms with orchards, paddy, and upland fields. The needs of agricultural applications require easy and affordable control systems. Recent developments of MEMS technology based on inertial sensors and high speed DSP have enabled the fabrication of low-cost attitude system. Therefore, this study evaluates inertial MEMS sensors for estimating the attitude of an agricultural unmanned helicopter. The accuracies and errors of gyro and acceleration sensors were verified using a pendulum system. The true motion values were calculated using a theoretical estimation and absolute encoder measurement of the pendulum, and then the sensor output was compared with reference values. When comparing the sensor measurements and true values, the errors were determined to be 4.32~5.72%, 3.53~6.74%, and 3.91~4.16% for the gyro rate and x-, z- accelerations, respectively. Thus, the measurement results confirmed that the inertial sensors are effective for establishing an attitude and heading reference system (AHRES). The sensors would be constructed in gimbals for the estimating and proving attitude measurements in the following paper.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.14 no.5 s.77
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• pp.473-476
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• 2005

The demand of on-chip total analyzing system with MEMS (micro electro mechanical system) bio/chemical sensor is rapidly increasing. In on-chip total analyzing system, to detect the bio/chemical products with submicron feature size, a filtration system with nano-filter is required. One of the conventional methods to fabricate nano-filter is to use direct patterning or RIE (reactive ion etching). However, those procedures are very costly and are not suitable fur mass production. In this study, we suggested new fabrication method for a nano-filter based on replication process, which is simple and low cost process. After the Si master was fabricated by laser interference lithography and reactive ion etching process, the polymeric mold was replicated by UV-imprint process. Metallic nano-filter was fabricated after removing the polymeric part of metal deposited polymeric mold. Finally, our fabrication method was applied to metallic nano-filter with $1{\mu}m$ pitch size and $0.4{\mu}m$ hole size for bacteria sensor application.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.51-60
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• 2009

Objectives : It is considered not easy to diagnose the condition of acupoints or meridians. Oriental Medical instruments have rarely complied with Oriental Medical diagnostic/therapeutic theories. The aim of this study was to develop a system which measures meridian electric potential(MEP) in proportion to bio-electric charge for the purpose of Oriental Medical diagnosis. Method : To evaluate a meridian energy measurement system(MEMS), we carried out a performance test. For significance test, we conducted a clinical trial which measured the MEP of ST36(Chok-samni) on Stomach Meridian(ST). Results & Conclusions : We could evaluate the balance or the imbalance of the MEPs on the left/right ST36. Also, through the comparison of MEPs before and after meals, we could identify the correlation between the MEP and the condition of internal organs. Namely, MEP reflects the condition of acupoints/meridians and internal organs, therefore, we propose this new method for measuring and analyzing the condition of meridians and acupoints for Oriental Medical diagnosis.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.355-360
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• 2013

A wireless intraocular (IOP) pressure sensor based on micro electro mechanical system (MEMS) technology is proposed. The proposed IOP sensor uses variable inductance according to the external pressure. The proposed sensor is composed of two flexible membranes: a ferrite bottom part, an inductor, and a capacitor. The inductance of the sensor varies according to the external pressure. The resonance frequency of the sensor is also varied, and this frequency is detected using an external coil. The external coil is designed with an FR-4 printed circuit board. The feasibility of the proposed sensor structure using variable inductance to detect the external pressure is successfully demonstrated.

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2004.08a
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• pp.1142-1146
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• 2004

The ultra precision linear stage is an essential device in the fields of MEMS and Bio technology. A piezo electric motor is widely used for its better linear characteristics, faster response time, and smaller size than conventional electro-magnetic actuator. We develop a new inchworm type motor to implement an actuator-integrated a long stroke linear stage which can move fast. To implement a servo system, we use a heterodyne interferometer as a position sensor, and we propose a new measurement technique using I/Q demodulator, and we propose a counting method to measure the position of fast moving object with low cost circuitry. The characteristics of the actuator and servo system are evaluated by measuring its displacement with a commercial laser interferometer.