High-Output, Monodispersed Aerosol Particle Generation Using Microfabricated Nozzle Arrays

Aerosol generation is an important leading edge technology with relevance to ballistic missile defense because of the importance of bioearosol generation technology in the development of countermeasures for defence against biological warfare. Aerosol delivery is also an important route for the transmission of naturally occurring particulate materials. The development of new technology for the efficient delivery of aerosols has important applications in agriculture, medicine, ecological science, and materials science. The physical, optical, aerodynamic, and biological properties of an aerosol are strongly linked to its particle size distribution; therefore, efficient high-output generation of monodispersed aerosols is an important capability. The proposed program by Anvik Corporation will develop an efficient, monodispersed aerosol particle generator which will function by pulsed mechanical extrusion of high surface tension liquids through a microfabricated array of holes. The particle size distribution will be controlled by the diameters of the holes in a microfabricated nozzle array. In the fully developed system the aerosol particle size distribution can be both controlled and tuned by the separate actuation of multiple nozzle arrays with different nozzle exit hole sizes in the generator.