Bead manipulation to enable electrically controlled wire braiding

Abstract

Litz wire bundles are highly effective at enhancing the current carrying capacity and limiting the losses of electronic devices up to MHz frequencies due to the pattern in which the individual wires are braided in the bundle. However, the technology to fabricate Litz wire bundles at higher radio frequencies has not been developed due to current manufacturing limitations. Litz wire bundles developed to accommodate higher radio frequencies would have a tremendous impact for electronic devices because these bundles would allow for inductors to be manufactured with increased quality factors from the current range of less than 10 to a possible range of up to 1000 at frequencies of 1-10GHz. This would allow for less spectral crowding, jamming, improved power handling, and more efficient systems. In this thesis, through collaboration with The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, dielectrophoretic and driven fluid flow bead manipulation methods were explored for the purpose of demonstrating the plausibility of controlled litz wire braiding at a nano-to-micro scale. Results from this thesis show that both dielectrophoresis and driven fluid flow are viable methods for bead manipulation and should be further developed to enable fabrication of "NanoLitz" wires.