Study of a Micro Electromagnetic PDMS Membrane Actuator

摘要

This paper reports the design, fabrication and testing of a micro PDMS membrane-type electromagnetic actuator for μTAS. Electromagnetic actuation is employed because of the simple fabrication progress and large deflections under low voltage. The micro actuator is based on a thin membrane made of PDMS (polydimethyl siloxane ). Membrane displacement is caused by the electromagnetic interaction between the NdFeB piece (adhering to the bottom of the PDMS membrane) and the coil. The fabrication of the coil employs the normal micromachining process and LIGA technique. The number of turns of the coil is 35 , only one layer, the dimension of the coil is 8mm x 6mm ,and the thickness of the coil is 15μm . Experimentally, when the coil is driven by the signal operating at 80 mA AC , the 6x6 mm~2,40-μm-thick PDMS membrane achieves 300μm deflections . The stroke volume can be easily changed by the actuation voltage. The future applications of this micro actuator can be chemoanalysis, biology and chemical sensors, environment monitor and many other fields.