Two-Dimensional Actuation of Liquid-Metal Droplets for Hot-Spot Cooling

摘要

A liquid-metal droplet is actuated in a two-dimensional plane to demonstrate controlled actuation and selective hotspot cooling. Continuous electrowetting actuates the droplet to move along a prescribed path within a 3 cm × 3 cm well. The terminal velocity of the actuated droplet is achieved at 13.3 cm/s with an actuation voltage of 11 V DC. Increasing the number of electrodes along the well edges results in more precise positioning of the liquid-metal droplet. This technique allows an actuated droplet to perform rapid cooling at localized hot spots within the device. For an actuation voltage of 10 V DC, the liquid-metal droplet decreases the temperature of a hot spot by approximately 7 °C.