Patent ID: 8302880

Claim:
A method of creating substantially monodisperse droplets, comprising supplying a first fluid and a second immiscible fluid within a set of channels, the second fluid surrounding the first fluid and filling the channels to form a composite jet, the composite jet passing through an entrance channel into a wider cavity, where the first fluid breaks into droplets, the resulting composite of droplets of the first fluid within the second fluid passing through an exit channel, a cross sectional area of the exit channel perpendicular to the flow being smaller than a cross sectional area of the cavity and wherein the passage of a droplet of the first fluid out of the cavity via the exit channel perturbs the composite flow field within the cavity such that an incoming jet of the first fluid is perturbed, wherein the first fluid breaks up into droplets at a distance approximately L B from the entrance channel of the cavity, the cavity being of length L and L B being greater than (⅓) L, and L B being less than L.