Microgasketing procedure, developed for MEMS fluidic device fabrication, is described. Planar-processed microdevices of a volume even less than 1 nl can be selectively filled with liquid and sealed at room temperature in a batch fashion. Isolating a liquid within such a small device area by the gasketing and minimizing air traps during sealing by controlled wicking are the key issues addressed. Two unique microdevices made possible by the described technique are presented: (1) a microrelay switched by a liquid-metal droplet (10 micrometers in diameter), and (2) a highly efficient (e.g., power consumption < 10 (mu) W with driving potential < 10 V) liquid micromotor driven by surface tension force.

Date Published: 10 September 1998
PDF: 6 pages
Proc. SPIE 3515, Microfluidic Devices and Systems, (10 September 1998); doi: 10.1117/12.322072

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 3515:
Microfluidic Devices and Systems
A. Bruno Frazier; Chong Hyuk Ahn, Editor(s)