An air-actuated valveless micropump with polyimide membrane

Abstract

In this paper, a new way of applying polyimide (PI) film as a membrane of a MEMS micropump is reported, this is because the PI films have especial characteristics such as chemical stability, mechanical strength and large expandability. A simple structured air-actuated valveless micropump with a polyimide membrane was designed. The micropump was fabricated processes including metal deposition spin-coating of PI, optical lithography and the ICP etching of silicon. The operation of the micropump is based on alternating air pressure to deflect the membrane. The tapered diffuser and nozzle work as valves. When the membrane is deflected, the fluid flows thought the diffuser is larger than the flow thought the nozzle. More details of this device will be reported at the conference.