• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2010.11a
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• pp.427-428
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• 2010

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.114-120
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• 2012

We present a simple and low-cost method to fabricate poly(methyl-methacrylate) (PMMA) nanochannels with various shapes by combining the standard optical lithography with a PMMA layer transfer and collapse technique. We utilized PMMA membrane reflowing/collapsing phenomena into microchannels to fabricate nanochannels at both corners of arbitrarily-shaped microchannels. This allows nanochannels with various shapes such as curved nanochannels as well as straight nanochannels to be easily fabricated since the shape of the microchannel determines the shape of the nanochannels. This nanochannel fabrication method is simple, flexible, and low-cost since the standard optical lithography with low-resolution optical masks can be used to fabricate nanoscale channels as small as 100 nm wide with various shapes. Also, the sealing of nanochannels can be naturally achieved while the nanochannels are formed through the polymer layer transfer and collapse.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.30 no.1 s.244
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• pp.1-7
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• 2006

The characteristics of micro gaseous flows in microchannels have been analyzed in view of flow resistance using the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method which is a molecule-based numerical modeling technique. For this purpose, a DSMC code where the pressure boundary condition was specified at the inlet and outlet, has been developed and the results of simulations showed satisfactory agreements with the analytic solution in the slip flow regime. (0.01 < Kn < 0.1) By varying the height and length of the microchannel, the effect of pressure difference between the inlet and outlet was examined. The present computation indicates that the curvature in pressure distribution along the channel increases due to the effect of compressibility when the pressure difference increases. To obtain the flow resistance regardless of the channel dimensions, a standard curve is devised in the present study by introducing the concept of unit mass flowrate and unit driving pressure force. From this curve, it is shown that in micro flows, a significant deviation from the laminar incompressible flow occurs by reducing the flow resistance.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.08a
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• pp.274.2-274.2
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• 2013

We described a simple and efficient fabrication method for generating microfluidic channels with a circular-cross sectional geometry by exploiting the reflow phenomenon of a thick positive photoresist. Initial rectangular shaped positive photoresist micropatterns on a silicon wafer, which were fabricated by a conventional photolithography process, were converted into a half-circular shape by tuning the temperature to around $105^{\circ}C$. Through optimization of the reflow conditions, we could obtain a perfect circular micropattern of the positive photoresist, and control the diameter in a range from 100 to 400 ${\mu}m$. The resultant convex half-circular photoresist was used as a template for fabricating a concave polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) through a replica molding process, and a circular PDMS microchannel was produced by bonding two half-circular PDMS layers. A variety of channel dimensions and patterns can be easily prepared, including straight, S-curve, X-, Y-, and T-shapes to mimic an in vivo vascular network. To inform an endothelial cell layer, we cultured primary human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) inside circular PDMS microchannels, and demonstrated successful cell adhesion, proliferation, and alignment along the channel.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.08a
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• pp.274.1-274.1
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• 2013

We report the circumferential alignment of human aortic smooth muscle cells (HASMCs) in an orthogonally micropatterned circular microfluidic channel to form an in vivo-like smooth muscle cell layer. To realize a biomimetic smooth muscle cell layer which is aligned perpendicular to the axis of blood vessel, we first fabricated a half-circular polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microchannel by soft lithography using a convex PDMS mold. The orthogonally micro wrinkle patterns were generated inside the half-circular microchannel by stretching-releasing operation under UV irradiation. Upon UV treatment with uniaxial 40 % stretch of a PDMS substrate and releasing process, the microwrinkle patterns perpendicular to the axial direction of the circular microchannel were generated, which could guide the circumferential alignment of HASMCs successfully during cultivation. The analysis of orientation angle, shape index, and contractile protein marker expression indicates that the cultured HASMCs revealed the in vivo-like cell phenotype. Finally, we produced circular microchannels by bonding two half-circular microchannels, and cultured the HASMCs circumferentially with high alignment and viability for 5 days. These results are the first demonstration for constructing an in vivo-like 3D smooth muscle cell layer in the circular microfluidic channel which can provide novel bioassay platforms for in-depth study of HASMC biology and vascular function.

• Proceedings of the Korea Society for Energy Engineering kosee Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.71-74
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• 2003

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.349-354
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• 2010

Fuel cells have attracted enormous interest as new power sources because the cells can be used to solve the problem of environmental pollution as well as the natural-resource exhaustion problem. In this study, hydrogen-gas flow in microchannels of different shapes was numerically analyzed to improve the efficiency of a microfuel cell. Flow characteristics in six microchannels of different shapes but under identical boundary conditions were simulated. The analysis result shows that the flow characteristics such as velocity, uniformity, and flow rate, greatly depend upon the channel shape. This implies that the efficiency of microfuel cell can be expected to be increased by adopting the optimal configuration of channel shape for hydrogen-gas flow. The experimental results show that power density of a PEMFC with a microflow channel is higher than that of a PEMFC without a microflow channel; however, a durable catalyst is required in MEA.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.743-748
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• 2012

This study presents the effects of micro-geometries on the swimming behavior of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. First, we have measured parameters of single-cell motility including cell speed, run duration time, and tumble angle under two dimensional space. The results are used to calculate motility coefficients in the width of microchannels ranging from 10 to $100{\mu}m$. Since the single-cell motility parameters measured depend on the interaction of flagella with the microchannel wall, the duration time of the running cell in restricted geometries is distinctively different. Therefore, the motility of bacteria is decreased by restricted geometries. This study suggests that microfluidic approach is useful tool for the analysis of bacterial motility under the restricted space and rapid analytical tool.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.73-78
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• 2016

An increase in the transistor density of integrated circuit devices leads to a very high increase in heat dissipation density, which causes a long-term reliability and various thermal problems in microelectronics. In this study, liquid cooling method was investigated using straight microchannels with various metal bumps. Microchannels were fabricated on Si wafer using deep reactive ion etching (DRIE), and Ag, Cu, or Cr/Au/Cu metal bumps were placed on Si wafer by a screen printing method. The surface temperature of liquid cooling structures with various metal bumps was measured by infrared (IR) microscopy. For liquid cooling with Cr/Au/Cu bumps, the surface temperature difference before and after liquid cooling was $45.2^{\circ}C$ and the power density drop was $2.8W/cm^2$ at $200^{\circ}C$ heating temperature.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.38 no.8
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• pp.823-829
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• 2014

In the present study, simple models were proposed to predict the capillary-driven flow length in a surfactant-added poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) rectangular microchannel. Owing to the hydrophobic nature of PDMS, it is difficult to transport water in a conventional PDMS microchannel by means of the capillary force alone. To overcome this problem, microchannels with a hydrophilic surface were fabricated using surfactant-added PDMS. By measuring the contact angle change on the surfactant-added PDMS surface, the behavior was investigated to establish a simple model. In order to predict the filling length induced by the capillary force, the Washburn equation was modified in the present study. From the investigation, it was found that the initial rate-of-change of the contact angle affected the filling length. Simple models were developed for three representative cases, and these can be useful tools in designing microfluidic manufacturing techniques including MIcroMolding In Capillaries (MIMIC).