A high-speed Ta-Si-N gas microvalve has been designed, fabricated and characterized. Ta-Si-N has a unique combination of electrical and mechanical properties suitable for robust high performance MEMS devices. The valve reported here represents the first working MEMS device integrating a sputtered Ta-Si-N layer, for use at differential pressures greater than 2 bar and capable of achieving controlled flow-rates under pulse width modulation (PWM). Previously reported, electrostatically actuated microvalves (3,4,5) were limited to operating pressures less than 200 mbar, and their switching behavior was not studied. The valve is based on a surface micromachined Ta-Si-N membrane that closes a deep reactive ion etched hole. The valve was optimized to achieve a low actuation voltage and fast commutation. This study focuses on the characterization of the switching behavior of the valve membrane and its influence on the flow-rate.

Date Published: 28 September 2001
PDF: 10 pages
Proc. SPIE 4560, Microfluidics and BioMEMS, (28 September 2001); doi: 10.1117/12.443061

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 4560:
Microfluidics and BioMEMS
Carlos H. Mastrangelo; Holger Becker, Editor(s)