Liquid dispensing with reduced droplet evaporation
AssigneeAgilent Technologies, Inc.
InventorsRichard K. Workman, Victor Lim
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Liquids are dispensed onto a substrate in a manner that reduces droplet evaporation while and after the liquids are dispensed. The substrate is at least partially enclosed by boundaries that form a chamber that is effective to reduce the rate of evaporation of droplets being dispensed. The chamber may be partially open to a surrounding environment. Additional evaporative liquid may be provided to assist in reducing the rate of evaporation. The liquid dispensing may be implemented, for example, as part of the fabrication of a microarray such as a chemical or biochemical array, which may be the product of DNA or RNA array printing.
Claims20
A method for dispensing droplets, the method comprising:
- providing a substrate comprising a top surface;
- positioning the substrate under a cover to form a chamber, wherein the chamber contains a head space defined between the top surface and the cover;
- and
- dispensing droplets through the head space and into contact with the top surface while the substrate is positioned in the chamber.
A liquid dispensing system, comprising:
- a cover;
- a substrate holder configured to hold a substrate under the cover, wherein the cover and the substrate when positioned under the cover form a chamber;
- and
- a liquid dispensing device configured to dispense droplets through the chamber and into contact with the substrate while the substrate is positioned in the chamber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.