A novel thermally-actuated silicon micropump

Abstract

The thermal dynamics of a bimetallic microactuator in micropump are analyzed by using FEM. On the basis of the analysis, a novel thermally-actuated silicon micropump is developed. This micropump utilizes both bimetallic thermal actuation and thermal pneumatic actuation. The bimetallic microactuator is composed of an aluminum membrane and a silicon membrane. An air chamber is also designed to realize the thermal pneumatic actuation. A new micro check valve is developed through surface micromachining. This microvalve has a high reverse-to-forward flow resistance and a very small reverse leakage.