• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.30 no.4 s.247
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• pp.373-378
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• 2006

We present the design, fabrication, and characterization of a multi-chip microelectrofluidic bench, achieving both electrical and fluidic interconnections with a simple, low-loss and low-temperature electrofluidic interconnection method. We design 4-chip microelectrofluidic bench, having three electrical pads and two fluidic I/O ports. Each device chip, having three electrical interconnections and a pair of two fluidic I/O interconnections, can be assembled to the microelectofluidic bench with electrical and fluidic interconnections. In the fluidic and electrical characterization, we measure the average pressure drop of $13.6{\sim}125.4$ Pa/mm with the nonlinearity of 3.1 % for the flow-rates of $10{\sim}100{\mu}l/min$ in the fluidic line. The pressure drop per fluidic interconnection is measured as 0.19kPa. Experimentally, there are no significant differences in pressure drops between straight channels and elbow channels. The measured average electrical resistance is $0.26{\Omega}/mm$ in the electrical line. The electrical resistance per each electrical interconnection is measured as $0.64{\Omega}$. Mechanically, the maximum pressure, where the microelectrofluidic bench endures, reaches up to $115{\pm}11kPa$.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.475-479
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• 2012

We present a novel polymer fabrication process involving direct UV patterning of a hyperbranched polymer, AEO3000. Compared to PDMS, which is the most widely used polymer in bioMEMS devices, the present polymer has advantages with regard to electrode integration and fast fabrication. We designed a four-chip microelectrofluidic bench having three electrical pads and two fluidic I/O ports. We integrated a microfluidic mixer and a cell separator on the bench to characterize the interconnection performance and sample manipulation. Electrical and fluidic characterization of the microfluidic bench was performed. The measured electrical contact resistance was $0.75{\pm}0.44{\Omega}$, which is small enough for electrical applications, and the pressure drop was 8.3 kPa, which was 39.3% of the value in the tubing method. By performing yeast mixing and a separation test in the integrated module on the bench, we successfully showed that the interconnected chips could be used for bio-sample manipulation.