Polymer tube embedded in-plane micropump: Design, analysis and fabrication.

摘要

This work is aimed at the design, analysis, and fabrication of a novel polymer tube embedded in-plane micropump. A key component of the proposed micropump is a Parylene polymer tube that is embedded into a silicon micromachined structure. The silicon structure composed of active and mechanical components such as an actuator, microchannels, and valves was fabricated using Deep Reactive Ion Etching (DRIE) process with Silicon On Insulator (SOI) wafer. Advantages of embedding a Parylene polymer tube are biocompatibility, thermal and electrical insulation, and leakage free environments, which are essential requirements for biosensor and drug delivery applications.; The in-plane micropump previously presented faced issues related to the leakage of fluid through the 2 mum gap between the moving diaphragm and the etched out oxide layer at the bottom and the glass cover layer at the top. Inserting a polymer tube can eliminate leakage problems as fluids can only flow the inside of a tube. A biocompatible polymer, Parylene, was used as a tube material because it can be conformably deposited and patterned. The tube itself acts as a diaphragm, which transfers the force and motion of thermal actuators to fluid.; Challenging tasks to realize the proposed micropump are the design and structural and fluidic analysis of a polymer tube coupled with an actuator and the fabrication of a Parylene tub. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)