Electrospray mode transition of microdroplets with semiconductor nanoparticle suspension

Electrosprays operate in several modes depending on the flow rate and electric potential. This allows the deposition of droplets containing nanoparticles into discrete nanodot arrays to fabricate various electronic devices. In this study, seven different suspensions with varying properties were investigated. In the dripping mode, the normalized dropsize decreases linearly with electric capillary number, Ca-e, (ratio of electric to surface tension forces) up to Ca-e approximate to 1.0. The effect of viscous forces is found to be negligible in the dripping mode since the capillary number is small. For flow rates with low Reynolds number, the mode changes to microdripping mode, and then to a planar oscillating microdripping mode as Ca-e increases. The normalized dropsize remains nearly constant at 0.07 for Ca-e > 3.3. The microdripping mode which is important for depositing discrete array of nanodots is found to occur in the range, 2 <= Ca-e <= 2.5. The droplet frequency increases steadily from dripping to microdripping mode, but stays roughly constant in the oscillating microdripping mode. This work provides a physical basis by which the flow rate and the voltage can be chosen for any nanosuspension to precisely operate in the microdripping mode at a predetermined dropsize and droplet frequency.