Abstract
In this study, new structure of pneumatic driven microvalves which makes it possible to realize high-density integration has been developed and fabricated to form fluidic analog circuits. Suggested microvalves have vertically formed movable diaphragm on surface of an SOI wafer by using silicon deep etching technology. Accuracy of bonding alignment is not required, because relative positions of the channel and the barrier are determined by one-time photolithography. Fabricated microvalve can control drain flow of air by drain or gate pneumatic pressure like MOSFET characteristics. The occupied surface area of new microvalve is about 1/10 of the previous MOSFET-like microvalve. Based on the design technique of electronic circuits, fluidic-pressure amplifiers were designed and successfully fabricated. As a result, operation of pressure amplification has been demonstrated by the proposed microvalve.
