ABSTRACT
After reviewing the literature, researchers at the Microdrop Particle Search Group at SLAC found that the cheapest to construct and the easiest to service and maintain drop-on-demand ejectors for laboratory use were variations on the piezoelectrically driven tubular reservoir ejector, originally designed and patented by Steven Zoltan of the Clevite Corporation.1,2 The principal practical advantages over other designs are the ease of fluid handling, the lack of need for complex micromachining steps, and the low cost of the components and drive electronics. Another advantageous factor is that licensing and royalty fees are not a problem for the end user, because the patent on this general design, issued in the early 1970s, has expired.
